Grain bin management during load-in

ABSTRACT

A robot comprises an auger-based drive system, a memory, and a processor coupled with the memory and configured to control movement of the robot, via the auger-based drive system, relative to grain in a grain bin. The processor is further configured to direct traversal, by the robot, of a landing zone portion of a surface of a pile of the grain during load-in of the grain to disperse broken grain and foreign material away from the landing zone portion. The landing zone portion is located in a center of the grain bin where the grain lands as it is augured into the grain bin during load-in. The dispersal is affected in part by rotation of augers of the auger-based drive system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and benefit of co-pending U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 63/343,141 filed on May 18, 2022entitled “Grain Bin Management” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., havingAttorney Docket No. GWC-009-PR, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claimspriority to and benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/195,021 filed on Mar. 8, 2021, entitled “Bulk Store Slope Adjustment”by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., having Attorney Docket No. GWC-001, andassigned to the assignee of the present application, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/195,021 claims priority to andbenefit of then co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/987,311 filed on Mar. 9, 2020 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAFEGRAIN BIN/SILO GRAIN EXTRACTION” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., havingAttorney Docket No. JLI-001-PRO, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claimspriority to and benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/982,590 filed on Nov. 8, 2022, entitled “SURFACE MANAGEMENT OF PILEDGRAIN” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., having Attorney Docket No.GWC-003, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/982,590 claims priority to andbenefit of then co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/277,232 filed on Nov. 9, 2021 entitled “PRECISE PAYLOAD DELIVERYRELATIVE TO PILED GRANULAR MATERIAL” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al.,having Attorney Docket No. GWC-003-PR, and assigned to the assignee ofthe present application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/982,590 is a continuation-in-partapplication of and claims priority to and benefit of co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/195,021 filed on Mar. 8, 2021, entitled“Bulk Store Slope Adjustment” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., havingAttorney Docket No. GWC-001, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claimspriority to and benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/983,505 filed on Nov. 9, 2022, entitled “MAPPING PILED GRANULARMATERIAL IN A BULK STORE” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., having AttorneyDocket No. GWC-002, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/983,505 is a continuation-in-partapplication of and claims priority to and benefit of co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/195,021 filed on Mar. 8, 2021, entitled“Bulk Store Slope Adjustment” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., havingAttorney Docket No. GWC-001, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/983,505 claims priority to andbenefit of then co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/277,232 filed on Nov. 9, 2021 entitled “PRECISE PAYLOAD DELIVERYRELATIVE TO PILED GRANULAR MATERIAL” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al.,having Attorney Docket No. GWC-003-PR, and assigned to the assignee ofthe present application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/983,505 claims priority to andbenefit of then co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/320,791 filed on Mar. 17, 2022 entitled “MAPPING PILED GRANULARMATERIAL IN A BULK STORE” by Benjamin H. Johnson et al., having AttorneyDocket No. GWC-002-PR, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Some examples of granular material include, without limitation: grain(e.g., small hard seeds such as soybean seeds, pinto beans, cornkernels, wheat, and rice), non-grain plant seeds (e.g., flower seeds andgrass seeds), nuts (e.g., shelled or unshelled tree nuts or groundnuts), sand, pelletized products (e.g., wood pellets, plastic pellets,etc.) and milled/ground products (e.g., flour, sugar, and mineral/rockaggregates, etc.). Granular material is often piled in a bulk store,either in the open or in a container such as a bin. Bulk stores, such asgrain bins, are often hot, dirty, dusty, and dangerous workplaces. Toadequately manage bulk stored granular materials farmers and/or otherworkers are required to enter bulk stores and/or climb about on thesurface of a pile of the bulk stored granular material. Suchinteractions expose the farmer/worker to falls, entrapments, explosions,auger entanglements, heat stroke, and long-term conditions such asFarmer's Lung.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe Description of Embodiments, illustrate various embodiments of thesubject matter and, together with the Description of Embodiments, serveto explain principles of the subject matter discussed below. Unlessspecifically noted, the drawings referred to in this Brief Descriptionof Drawings should be understood as not being drawn to scale. Herein,like items are labeled with like item numbers.

FIG. 1 shows an example block diagram of some aspects of a device whichmoves about and/or operates in relation to a pile of granular material,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a collection of sensors, any, or all ofwhich may be incorporated into the device of FIG. 1 , in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a collection of payloads, any, or all ofwhich may be incorporated into the device of FIG. 1 , in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-1, 4A-2, and 4A-3 illustrate front elevational views of theexterior of a device which moves about and/or operates in relation to apile of granular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 4B-1 and 4B-2 illustrate rear elevational views of the exterior ofa device which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 4C-1 and 4C-2 illustrate right elevational views of the exteriorof a device which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 4D-1 and 4D-2 illustrate left elevational views of the exterior ofa device which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 4E-1 and 4E-2 illustrate bottom plan views of the exterior of adevice which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4F illustrates a top plan view of the exterior of a device whichmoves about and/or operates in relation to a pile of granular materialalong with a chart illustrating directional movements, in accordancewith various embodiments.

FIG. 4G illustrates an upper front right perspective view of theexterior of a device which moves about and/or operates in relation to apile of granular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates some example embodiments of a bulk store slopeadjustment system, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates some example embodiments of a bulk store slopeadjustment system, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example bulk store for granular material, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7B illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7C illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7D illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows pattern for moving a device aboutand/or operating in relation to a portion of piled granular material inthe bulk store, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7E illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows pattern for moving a device aboutand/or operating in relation to a portion of piled granular material inthe bulk store, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7F illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows pattern for moving a device aboutand/or operating in relation to a portion of piled granular material inthe bulk store, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7G illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7H illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7I illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7J illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7K illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7L illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk storefor granular material which shows a device moving about and/or operatingin relation to a portion of piled granular material in the bulk store,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-E illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of bulk storeslope adjustment, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate a plurality of patterns for surface mappingand/or surface management, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10F illustrate some example three-dimensional maps of thesurfaces of a piled granular material assembled from three-dimensionallocations of a robotic device recorded during traversal of the surfacein a mapping pattern, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 10G illustrates an example three-dimensional map of the surface andthe inside of a piled granular material assembled from a plurality ofthree-dimensional surface maps, according to various embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11E illustrate various views of an example probe deliverypayload which may be coupled to and controlled by a device which movesabout and/or operates in relation to a pile of granular material, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a right elevational view of the exterior of a devicewhich moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile of granularmaterial and which includes a probe delivery payload, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates robot delivery of a payload, which may be a probe orsensor, in a bulk store in a predetermined three-dimensional pattern asgranular material such as grain is added to the bulk store, according tovarious embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates robot delivery of a payload, which may be a probe orsensor, in a bulk store when triggered by detection of specifiedcriteria, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates robot delivery of a payload, which may be a probe orsensor, in a bulk store when triggered by human engagement, according tovarious embodiments.

FIGS. 16A-16D illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of surfacemanagement of piled grain, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 17A-17E illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of mappingwithin a bulk store of granular material, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIGS. 18A-18N illustrate aspects of grain bin management via a deviceoperating in a circular/cylindrical grain bin, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIGS. 19A-19E illustrate aspects of grain bin management via a deviceoperating in a rectangular grain bin, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIGS. 20A-20F illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of grainbin management during load-in, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 21A-21I illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of grainbin management during grain storage, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIGS. 22A-2D illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of roboticgrain walk down in a flat storage bulk store, in accordance with variousembodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thesubject matter, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While various embodiments are discussed herein, it will beunderstood that they are not intended to limit to these embodiments. Onthe contrary, the presented embodiments are intended to coveralternatives, modifications, and equivalents, which may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the various embodiments as defined by theappended claims. Furthermore, in this Description of Embodiments,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present subject matter. However,embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits havenot been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects ofthe described embodiments.

Overview of Discussion

A device which can operate via remote controlled instruction,autonomously, or some combination thereof is described. The device isrobotic and may be referred to herein as a “robot” or as a “roboticdevice,” or the “device,” and includes an auger-based drive system whichfacilitates the movement and/or operation of the device in relation to aportion of piled granular material in a bulk store, such as a grain bin.More particularly, because of the augers in the auger-based drivesystem, the device can operate and maneuver upon or beneath piledgranular material. Additionally, and advantageously, augers of theauger-based drive system move, disrupt, agitate, and/or disperse piledgranular material as a consequence of the movement of the device.

Although tracked and wheeled devices would seem to be alternatives tothe auger-driven device described herein, both wheeled and tracked drivesystems have been found ill-suited to operation on piled granularmaterial. For example, wheeled and tracked devices are both easilybogged down when operating on piled granular material, such that theyexhibit poor mobility in traversing piled granular material. In short,they get stuck and require human retrieval or intervention, whichtypically necessitates a human undesirably entering upon the pile ofgranular material such as grain.

Some examples of granular material include, without limitation, include:grain (e.g., small hard edible seeds such as soybean seeds, pinto beans,corn kernels, and wheat seeds, rice, etc.), non-grain plant seeds (e.g.,flower seeds or grass seeds), nuts (e.g., shelled or unshelled tree nutsor ground nuts), sand, pelletized products (e.g., wood pellets, plasticpellets, etc.) and milled/ground products (e.g., flour, sugar, andmineral/rock aggregates, etc.). Granular material is often piled (i.e.,heaped up) in a bulk store.

A bulk store is the place where granular material is piled for bulkstorage. Although a grain bin is frequently used herein as an example ofa bulk store, nearly any bulk store which is large enough for a human toaccess and work inside or upon the stored granular material is acandidate for operation of the device described herein. Accordingly, itshould be appreciated that other large bulk stores are also suitablebulk stores for use of the described device in relation to piledgranular material in many of the manners described herein. Some examplesof other large bulk stores include, but not limited to: containers(e.g., railcars, semi-trailers, barges, ships, and the like) fortransport/storage of granular material, buildings (e.g., silos, bins,warehouses, flat storage, government grain storage, etc.) for storage ofgranular material, and open storage piles of granular material.

Bulk stored granular material can present many safety concerns forhumans. For example, bulk stores are often hot, dusty, poorly lit, andgenerally inhospitable work environments for humans. Additionally,entrapments can take place when a farmer or worker is in a bin or otherbulk store of granular material, such as grain, and the granularmaterial slides onto or engulfs the person. Entrapments can happenbecause a slope angle of the piled granular material (e.g., grain) is ata critical angle which may slide when disturbed by the person or elsewhen may slide when extraction augers or machinery disturb the bulkstored granular material. As one example, steep walls of grain canavalanche onto a farmer/worker trying to mitigate problems in a grainbin, inspect the stored grain, or agitate the grain to improve theoutflow. Additionally, sometimes a bridge/crust layer can form over avoid in a pile of grain and when a farmer/worker walks across it ortries to break it with force, the grain bridge can collapse and entrapthe person. As this bridge/crust layer and/or the size of the void belowit may be invisible to the human eye, it can present an unknown dangerto a farmer/worker. As will be discussed, many of these and other safetyconcerns can be reduced or eliminated through use of the device andtechniques/methods described herein.

Among other things, the device described herein can be used to addressmanaging the quality of bulk stored granular material (e.g., grain in abin) through tasks like, but not limited to: inspections of the bulkstored granular material, leveling of the bulk stored granular material,agitating of the bulk stored granular to prevent/reduce spoilage,dispersing of the bulk stored granular material while it is being loadedinto the bulk store, assisting with rehydration of grain to a highertest weigh prior to extraction, assisting with extraction of grain,feeding a sweep auger or other collection device which removes the bulkstored granular material from the bulk store, and/or lowering the slopeangles of the granular material in a partially emptied bulk store. Inshort, the device can accomplish numerous tasks which when done by thedevice preclude the need for humans to enter a bulk store, work on apile of granular material, or else make it safer when it is necessaryfor humans to enter a bulk store or work on a pile of granular material.In various embodiments, these tasks may be carried out: by the deviceunder remote-control of the device by an operator located outside thebulk store; by the device in an ad-hoc fashion; by the device in apartially automated fashion; and/or by the device in fully automatedfashion. In short, employment of the device relative to a bulk storedgranular material reduces or eliminates the requirement for a human toenter a bulk store or personally traverse the piled granular material.As a consequence, safety to humans is drastically improved with regardto tasks related to management of a bulk store. In an event where ahuman chooses to enter a bulk store, the device can manage/prepare thesurface by removing crusts, grain bridges, and reducing slope so thatthe piled granular material is safer for human traversal.

Additionally, as an extension of the device traversing the surface ofpiled granular material, the device can note and record its locations ata plurality of points on the surface such that a mapping of thethree-dimensional contours of the upper surface of the piled granularmaterial in the bulk store can be constructed of the points of locationof the device. The mapping can further include environmentalcharacteristics measured at respective locations upon the surface.Several surface maps can be sequentially captured during the fill of abulk store such that when compiled a three-dimensional map is assembledwhich illustrates environmental characteristics not only on the surfaceof the piled granular material, but also beneath the existing surface atthe levels of previous surfaces where mapping was accomplished prior tothe filling of additional granular material. Such mappings have manybeneficial uses. For example, a surface contour map can be combined withinformation regarding test weights (i.e., moisture levels) of piledgrain and the location of the floor of the bulk store to estimate anamount of granular material (e.g., grain) stored in the bulk store(i.e., a number of bushels or other weight or volume). In anotherexample, a surface contour map can be utilized to determine whether andwhere surface leveling should be performed by the device. In anotherexample, an environmental characteristics map can indicate one or moreareas of concern which may need to be cooled, dispersed, or otherwiseattended to by the robotic device described herein. Put more generally,data collected by the device while traversing the surface of a piledgranular material in a bulk store (e.g., a grain bin) is used to assista human (e.g., a farmer, worker, etc.) in managing the bulk store andthe piled granular material during loading, storage, and unloading ofthe piled granular material.

Additionally, as an extension of the device traversing the surface ofpiled granular material and in some instances as a function of mappingas well, the device operates as a grain bin assistant in the managementof the grain that is stored within a bulk store such as a grain bin.That is, the device may operate to assist with management a grain bin:prior to load-in of grain, during load-in of grain, after load-in,during storage, during extraction of grain, and/or during clean-out ofgrain from a bin. This may include one or more of: the device operatingto level, map, aerate, and/or prepare the surface of any grain alreadyin a grain bin to prepare the bin for load-in of additional grain; thedevice operating during load-in of a load of grain to disperse BGFMwhich typically accumulates in the landing zone of the loaded-in grain;the device operating during/after the load-in of a load of grain tolevel, map, remediate hot spots, and/or aerate the surface of grain; thedevice operating to prepare the upper surface of the loaded-in graineither for long term storage or load-in of an additional load; thedevice operating to maintain and/or inspect the surface of the grainduring long term storage; the device operating to assist withrehydration of stored grain prior to extraction; the device operating toassist with extraction by leveling the surface, mapping the surface,and/or pushing grain to the center/extraction point through one or moreof the action of the augers of the device and purposely incitingsediment gravity flow of grain; and/or the device operating withclean-out of the grain bin by running one or more patterns to move grainto a sweep auger or other extraction point/tool at the bottom of the binthrough one or more of the action of the augers of the device andpurposely inciting sediment gravity flow of grain.

Discussion begins with a description of notation and nomenclature.Additional discussion is divided into sections. In Section 1, discussionis directed to description of some block diagrams of example componentsof some examples of a robotic auger-driven “device” which moves aboutand/or operates in relation to a bulk stored pile of granular material.A variety of sensors and payloads which may be included with and/orcoupled with the device are described. Numerous example views of theexterior of a device are presented and described, to include descriptionof the auger-based drive system of the device. Several systems forremote-controlled semi-autonomous, and autonomous operation of thedevice are described. Additionally, systems and techniques for storinginformation from the device and/or providing information and/orinstructions to the device are described. In Section 2, an example bulkstore for granular material is then depicted and described inconjunction with operation of the device in relation to piled granularmaterial in the bulk store. Operation of the device and componentsthereof, to include some sensors of the device, are discussed inconjunction with a variety of methods/modes of operation. For example,operation of the device is discussed in conjunction with description ofan example method of bulk store leveling. Additionally, operation of thedevice and system in which it is included are discussed in conjunctionwith example methods of mapping, by or with the device of piled granularmaterial in a bulk store and/or in conjunction with positioning one ormore probes onto the surface of the piled granular material. In Section3, operation of the device and system in which it is included arediscussed in conjunction with example methods and techniques formanaging a grain bin and the grain stored within the grain bin.

Section 1 Notation and Nomenclature

Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented interms of procedures, logic blocks, processes, modules, and othersymbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computermemory. These descriptions and representations are the means used bythose skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. In the presentapplication, a procedure, logic block, process, module, or the like, isconceived to be one or more self-consistent procedures or instructionsleading to a desired result. The procedures are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, although not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated in an electronic device/component.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the description ofembodiments, discussions utilizing terms such as “accessing,”“assembling,” “capturing,” “ceasing,” “ceasing traversal,” “collecting,”“communicating,” “communicatively coupling,” “continuing,” “continuingtraversal,” “controlling,” “coupling,” “delivering,” “depositing,”“determining,” “directing,” “directing traversal,” “failing to satisfy,”“inciting,” “instructing,” “mapping,” “measuring,” “placing, providing,”“providing access,” “obtaining,” “performing,” “receiving,” “receivingdata,” “receiving instructions,” “recording,” “relaying,” “responding,”“satisfying,” “sending,” “sensing,” “traversing,” “using,” and“utilizing,” or the like, refer to the actions and processes of anelectronic device or component such as (and not limited to): a hostprocessor, a sensor processing unit, a sensor processor, a digitalsignal processor or other processor, a memory, a sensor (e.g., atemperature sensor, motion sensor, etc.), a computer, a remotecontroller, a device which moves about and/or operates in relation to aportion of piled granular material, some combination thereof, or thelike. The electronic device/component manipulates and transforms datarepresented as physical (electronic and/or magnetic) quantities withinthe registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented asphysical quantities within memories and/or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission, processing, and/or displaycomponents.

Embodiments described herein may be discussed in the general context ofprocessor-executable instructions residing on some form ofnon-transitory processor-readable medium, such as program modules orlogic, executed by one or more computers, processors, or other devices.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. The functionality of theprogram modules may be combined or distributed as desired in variousembodiments.

In the figures, a single block may be described as performing a functionor functions; however, in actual practice, the function or functionsperformed by that block may be performed in a single component or acrossmultiple components, and/or may be performed using hardware, usingsoftware, or using a combination of hardware and software. To clearlyillustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, variousillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have beendescribed generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the present disclosure. Also, the example electronic device(s)described herein may include components other than those shown,including well-known components.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware, or acombination of hardware with firmware and/or software, unlessspecifically described as being implemented in a specific manner. Anyfeatures described as modules or components may also be implementedtogether in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete butinteroperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniquesmay be realized at least in part by a non-transitorycomputer/processor-readable storage medium comprisingcomputer/processor-readable instructions that, when executed, cause aprocessor and/or other components of a computer, computer system, orelectronic device to perform one or more of the methods and/or actionsof a method described herein. The non-transitorycomputer/processor-readable storage medium may form part of a computerprogram product, which may include packaging materials.

The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium (also referred toas a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) may compriserandom access memory (RAM) such as synchronous dynamic random accessmemory (SDRAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random accessmemory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), FLASH memory, other known storage media, and the like. Thetechniques additionally, or alternatively, may be realized at least inpart by a processor-readable communication medium that carries orcommunicates code in the form of instructions or data structures andthat can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer or otherprocessor.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits andinstructions described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be executed by one or more processors, such as hostprocessor(s) or core(s) thereof, digital signal processors (DSPs),general purpose microprocessors, application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC s), application specific instruction set processors(ASIPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalentintegrated or discrete logic circuitry. The term “processor,” as usedherein may refer to any of the foregoing structures or any otherstructure suitable for implementation of the techniques describedherein. In addition, in some aspects, the functionality described hereinmay be provided within dedicated software modules or hardware modulesconfigured as described herein. Also, the techniques could be fullyimplemented in one or more circuits or logic elements. A general purposeprocessor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processormay be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or statemachine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing devices, e.g., a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with an ASIC or DSP, or any other suchconfiguration or suitable combination of processors.

Example Block Diagrams of a Device which Moves About and/or Operates inRelation to a Pile of Granular Material

FIG. 1 shows an example block diagram of some aspects of a device 100which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile of granularmaterial, in accordance with various embodiments. As previouslydiscussed, device 100 may be referred to as a robot and/or roboticdevice, and device 100 may carry out some or all of its functions andoperations based on stored instructions.

As shown, example device 100 comprises a communications interface 101, ahost processor 102, host memory 103, an interface 104, motor controllers105, and drive motors 106. In some embodiments, device 100 mayadditionally include one or more of communications 107, a camera(s) 108,one or more sensors 120, and/or one or more payloads 140.

Communications interface 101 may be any suitable bus or interface whichfacilitates communications among/between components of device 100.Examples of communications interface 101 include a peripheral componentinterconnect express (PCIe) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), auniversal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) serial bus, asuitable advanced microcontroller bus architecture (AMBA) interface, anInter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus, a serial digital input output (SDIO)bus, or other equivalent and may include a plurality of communicationsinterfaces.

The host processor 102 may, for example, be configured to perform thevarious computations and operations involved with the general functionof device 100 (e.g., sending commands to move, steer, avoid obstacles,and operate/control the operation of sensors and/or payloads). Hostprocessor 102 can be one or more microprocessors, central processingunits (CPUs), DSPs, general purpose microprocessors, ASICs, ASIPs, FPGAsor other processors which run software programs or applications, whichmay be stored in host memory 103, associated with the general functionsand capabilities of device 100.

Host memory 103 may comprise programs, modules, applications, or otherdata for use by host processor 102. In some embodiments, host memory 103may also hold information that that is received from or provided tointerface 104, motor controller(s) 105, communications 107, camera(s)108, sensors 120, and/or payloads 140. Host memory 103 can be anysuitable type of memory, including but not limited to electronic memory(e.g., read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), or otherelectronic memory).

Interface 104 is an external interface by which device 100 may receiveinput from an operator or instructions. Interface 104 is one or more ofa wired or wireless transceiver which may provide connection to anexternal transmission source/recipient for receipt of instructions,data, or direction to device 100 or offload of data from device 100. Oneexample of an external transmission source/external recipient may be abase station to which device 100 communicates collected data or fromwhich device 100 receives instructions or direction. Another example ofan external transmission source/recipient is a handholdableremote-controller to which device 100 communicates collected data orfrom which device 100 receives instructions or direction. By way ofexample, and not of limitation, in various embodiments, interface 104may comprise one or more of: a cellular transceiver, a wireless localarea network transceiver (e.g., a transceiver compliant with one or moreInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11specifications for wireless local area network communication (e.g.,WiFi)), a wireless personal area network transceiver (e.g., atransceiver compliant with one or more IEEE 802.15 specifications (orthe like) for wireless personal area network communication), and a wireda serial transceiver (e.g., a universal serial bus for wiredcommunication).

Motor controller(s) 105 are mechanism(s), typically circuitry and/orlogic, which operate under instruction from processor 102 to drive oneor more drive motors 106 with electricity to govern/control thedirection and/or speed of rotation of the drive motor(s) 106 and/or orother mechanism of movement to which the drive motor(s) 106 are coupled(such as augers). Motor controller(s) 105 may be integrated with orseparate from drive motor(s) 106.

Drive motor(s) 106 are electric motors which receive electrical inputfrom motor controller(s) 105 and turn a shaft in a direction and/orspeed responsive to the electrical input. In some embodiments, drivemotors 106 may be coupled directly to a mechanical means of drivemotivation and steering—such as one or more augers. In some embodiments,drive motors 106 may be coupled indirectly, such as via a gearing or atransmission, to a mechanical means of drive motivation andsteering—such as one or more augers.

Communications 107, when included, may comprise external interfaces inaddition to those provided by interface 104. Communications 107 mayfacilitate wired and/or wireless communication with devices external toand in some instances remote (e.g., many feet or even many miles away)from device 100. Communications protocols may include those used byinterface 104 as well as others. Some examples include, but are notlimited to: WiFi, LoRaWAN (e.g., long range wireless area networkcommunications on the license-free sub-gigahertz radio frequency bands),IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard derived communications (e.g., xBee), IEEE802.15.4 based or variant personal area network (e.g., Bluetooth,Bluetooth Low Energy, etc.), cellular, and connectionless wirelesspeer-to-peer communications (e.g., ESP-NOW). In various aspects,communications 107 may be used for data collection/transmission,reporting of autonomous interactions of device 100, and/or userinterface and/or operator interface with device 100.

Camera(s) 108 may comprise, without limitation: any type of opticalsensor or infrared image sensor for capturing still or moving images.Some examples of suitable cameras include charge-coupled device (CCD)sensor cameras, metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensor cameras, andother digital electronic cameras. Captured images may be utilized bydevice 100 for purposes such as navigation and decision making, may bestored, and/or may be transmitted to devices external to device 100. Insome embodiments, camera(s) 108 facilitate wayfinding for device 100when operating autonomously or semi-autonomously. In some embodiments,camera(s) 108 facilitates a remote view for an operator when device 100is manually driven by a human user via a remote controller or computersystem communicatively coupled with device 100. In some embodiments, aninfrared camera 108 is used to find hotspots of grain to mix or agitatewith device 100 (to reduce the heat of the hotspot). In someembodiments, computer vision is used by device 100 to make autonomousdecisions based on inputs to processor 102 from camera(s) 108.

FIG. 2 shows block diagram of a collection of sensors 120, any or all ofwhich may be incorporated device 100 of FIG. 1 , in accordance withvarious embodiments. Sensors 120 illustrate a non-limiting selection ofsensors, which include: motion sensor(s) 220, GNSS (Global NavigationSatellite System) receiver 230, ultrasonic transducer 231, LIDAR (lightdetection and ranging/laser imaging, detection, and ranging) 232,temperature sensor 233, moisture sensor 234, optical sensor 235, (e.g.,an optical camera), infrared sensor 236 (which may be a receiver such asan infrared camera or an emitter/receiver), electrostatic sensor 237,electrochemical sensor 238, a barometric pressure sensor 239, an airflow sensor 240, a carbon dioxide sensor 241, and a humidity sensor.

It is appreciated that one or more sensors may be combined. For example,several sensors may be combined in a device such as the ICM-20789microelectromechanical sensor (available from InvenSense, a TDK groupcompany, of San Jose, Calif.) which provides 7-axis sensing (3-axisaccelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, and 1-axis barometric pressure (formeasuring elevation changes to less than 8.5 cm accuracy)) along with anon-board digital motion processor. In other embodiments, separatesensors may be used; for example, a stand-alone pressure sensor 239 maymeasure elevation, via differential barometric pressure measurement, ofas little as 5 cm (e.g., InvenSense sensor ICP-10101, as one example)while a motion sensor 220 includes an accelerometer 222 for measuringmovement and a gyroscope 221 for measuring direction of movement). Othersensors may be additionally or alternatively included in someembodiments, for example a carbon dioxide sensor 241, and humidity 242.may be included to measure off-gassed carbon dioxide from piled grain,and/or an air flow sensor may be included to measure air flow throughand around piled grain (air flow is used for drying the pile of grainbut must be controlled to prevent over drying or undesired rehydration).In some embodiments, one or more microphones 243, may be included assensors. For example, an array of microphones may be used with abeamforming technique to locate the directional source of a sound, suchas falling granular material being poured, conveyed, streamed, oraugured into a bulk store. Some embodiments may additionally, oralternatively, include other sensors not described.

In general, individual sensors 120 operate to detect motion, position,timing, and/or some aspect of environmental context (e.g., temperature,atmospheric humidity, moisture of a sample or probed portion of granularmaterial, distance to an object, shape of an object, solidity of amaterial, light or acoustic reflectivity, ambient charge, atmosphericpressure, presence of certain chemical(s), noise/sound, etc.). Forexample, in an embodiment where the piled granular material is grain,many of sensors 120 are used to determine the state of the grain (e.g.,temperature, moisture, electrostatic charge, etc.). In some embodiments,one or more sensors 120 are used for fall detection, orientation, and toaid in autonomous direction of movement of device 100. For example, bydetecting temperature of grain, device 100 may determine hot spots whichneed to be mixed by traversal with device 100 or by other means.Similarly, by detecting moisture of grain, device 100 may determinemoist spots which need to be mixed by traversal with device 100 or byother means. By detecting an electrostatic and/or electrochemical aspectof the atmosphere in a grain bin, a level of dust or other particulatesand/or likelihood of an explosion may be detected in order to gaugesafety for a human and/or safety for operating device 100.

Some embodiments may, for example, comprise one or more motion sensors220. For example, an embodiment with a gyroscope 221, an accelerometer222, and a magnetometer 223 or other compass technology, which eachprovide a measurement along three axes that are orthogonal relative toeach other, may be referred to as a 9-axis device. In another embodimentthree-axis accelerometer 222 and a three-axis gyroscope 221 may be usedto form a 6-axis device. Other embodiments may, for example, comprise anaccelerometer 222, gyroscope 221, compass, and pressure sensor, and maybe referred to as a 10-axis device. Other embodiments may not includeall these motions sensors or may provide measurements along one or moreaxes. In some embodiments, motion sensors 220 may be utilized todetermine the orientation of device 100, the angle of slope orinclination of a surface upon which device 100 operates, the velocity ofdevice 100, and/or the acceleration of device 100. In variousembodiments, measurements from motion sensors 220 may be utilized byhost processor 102 to measure direction and distance of travel and mayoperate as an inertial navigation system (INS) suitable for controllingand/or monitoring maneuvering of device 100 in a bulk store (e.g.,within a grain bin). In some embodiments, motion sensors 220 may be usedfor fall detection. In some embodiments, motions sensor(s) 220 may beused to detect vibrations in the granular material proximate to device100.

FIG. 3 shows block diagram of a collection of payloads 140, any or allof which may be incorporated device 100 of FIG. 1 , in accordance withvarious embodiments. Payloads 140 illustrate a non-limiting selection ofpayloads, which include: ultraviolet germicidal 341, sample gatherer342, percussive, probe/sensor delivery 344, air dryer 345, drill 346,sprayer 347, lights 348, and/or ripper 349.

Ultraviolet germicidal payload 341, when included, emits ultravioletlight to kill germs by irradiating in the proximity of device 100.Sample gatherer payload 342, when included, provides one or morecontainers or bays for gathering one or more samples of granularmaterial from a pile of granular material upon which device 100operates. Percussive payload 343, when included, operates to vibrate, orpercussively impact piled granular material touching or in the proximityof device 100. Probe/sensor delivery payload 344, when included,operates to insert one or more probes or sensors into piled granularmaterial upon which device 100 operates and/or to position one or moreprobes onto piled granular material upon which device 100 operates. Airdryer payload 345, when included, provides a fan and/or heater fordrying piled granular material proximate to device 100. Drill payload346, when included, operates to bore into and/or sample piled granularmaterial and/or break up crusts or aggregations of piled granularmaterial proximate to device 100. Sprayer payload 347, when included,operates to spray fungicide, insecticide, or other liquid or powderedtreatments onto piled granular material proximate device 100. Lightspayload 348, when included, emit optical and/or infrared illumination inproximity of device 100. Ripper payload 349, when included, comprisesone or more blades, tines, or the like and is used to rip into, agitate,and/or break up crusts or chunks of aggregated granular materialproximate device 100. It should be appreciated that various payloads maybe delivered, where delivery includes leaving or expelling the payloador a portion thereof at a designated location. For example, delivery caninclude leaving/installing a probe or sensor. Delivery may also includespraying or spreading a substance such as, but not limited to: acoolant, a flame retardant, an insecticide, a fungicide, or otherliquid, gas, or powder.

In various embodiments, one or some combination of payloads 140 may beincluded in a payload bay of device 100. In some embodiments, thepayload bay is fixed in place. In some embodiments, the payload bay maybe removably coupled to device 100 to facilitate swapping it for anotherpayload bay to quickly reconfigure device 100 with various differentpayloads.

Example External Views of a Device which Moves about and/or Operates inRelation to a Pile of Granular Material

FIGS. 4A-1, 4A-2, and 4A-3 illustrate front elevational views of theexterior of a device 100 which moves about and/or operates in relationto a pile of granular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 4A-1 , device 100 includes a body 401, motors 106(106-1 and 106-2), transmissions 402 (402-1 and 402-2), and augers 403(403-1 and 403-2). In the illustrated embodiment of device 100, a pairof bilateral augers 403 is utilized. In some embodiments, a drive motor106 may be coupled to an auger 403 (such as to the end of an auger 403)in a manner that eliminates the need of a transmission 402 between thedrive motor 106 and the auger 403. In the depicted embodiments, thetransmission is located near the middle of each auger 403, thusbifurcating each auger into two portions. In FIG. 4A-1 , the frontportion 403-1A of auger 403-1 is visible, as is the front portion 403-2Aof auger 403-2. In typical operation, augers 343 sink at least partiallyinto the piled granular material and thrust against it as they rotate.The direction and speed of rotation of the augers 403 determines themovement fore, aft, left, right, turning left, and/or turning right ofdevice 100. In this manner, in various embodiments, device 100 can moveatop a pile of granular material, can move beneath a pile of granularmaterial (i.e., submerged in it), and can move to the surface afterbeing submerged in a pile of granular material.

In some embodiments, device 100 includes one or more payloads 140. Forexample, lights payloads 348 (348-1 and 348-2) are included to provideillumination. In some embodiments, device 100 may additionally oralternatively include a payload bay 440 which may be fixed to device 100or removably couplable with device 100. The payload bay 440 may providea housing for one or more of the payloads 140 discussed herein and/orfor other payloads. As one example, payload bay 440 may include samplegatherer payload 342 (show in the closed, non-sample gathering positionas 342A). In some embodiments, one or more cameras 108 are included andcoupled with body 401. In some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 areincluded and coupled with body 401 in a manner which provides access tothe external environment of device 100. For example, one or more ofultrasonic transducer 231, LIDAR 232, temperature sensor 233, moisturesensor 234, optical sensor 235, infrared sensor 236, electrostaticsensor 237, and electrochemical sensor 238 may be included in a mannerwhich provides sensor access to the operating environment of device 100.

Referring now to FIG. 4A-2 , device 100 is illustrated with samplegatherer payload 342 in an open, sample gathering position 342B, toscoop up a sample of granular material as device 100 moves forward withsample gatherer payload open and submerged into the piled granularmaterial upon which device 100 operates.

Referring now to FIG. 4A-3 , device 100 is illustrated without payloadbay 440. This illustrates a configuration of device 100 in which payloadbay 440 has been removed or else device 100 is not configured to supporta payload bay 440.

FIGS. 4B-1 and 4B-2 illustrate rear elevational views of the exterior ofa device 100 which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 4B-1 , the rear portion 403-1B of auger 403-1 isvisible, as is the rear portion 403-2B of auger 403-2.

With reference to FIG. 4B-2 , device 100 is illustrated without payloadbay 440. This illustrates a configuration of device 100 in which payloadbay 440 has been removed or else device 100 is not configured to supporta payload bay 440.

FIGS. 4C-1 and 4C-2 illustrate right elevational views of the exteriorof a device 100 which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pileof granular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 4C-1 , the full span of auger 403-2 is visible,including front portion 403-2A and rear portion 403-2B, as is the drivemotor 106-2 and transmission 402-2 which drive auger 403-2. Anauger-based drive system includes, for example, drive motors 106, andaugers 304, and may include transmissions 402. In some embodiments,motor controllers 105 may also be considered a portion of an auger-baseddrive system. This lateral side of the auger-based drive system ofdevice 100 comprises drive motor 106-2, transmission 402-2, and auger403-2. As has been discussed, other embodiments may directly drive theauger with the drive motor, thus eliminating the transmission from theauger-based drive system.

With reference to FIG. 4C-2 , device 100 is illustrated without payloadbay 440. This illustrates a configuration of device 100 in which payloadbay 440 has been removed or else device 100 is not configured to supporta payload bay 440.

FIGS. 4D-1 and 4D-2 illustrate left elevational views of the exterior ofa device 100 which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 4D-1 , the full span of auger 403-1 is visible,including front portion 403-1A and rear portion 403-1B, as is the drivemotor 106-1 and transmission 402-1 which drives auger 403-1. Thislateral side of the auger-based drive system of device 100 comprisesdrive motor 106-1, transmission 402-1, and auger 403-1. As has beendiscussed, other embodiments may directly drive the auger with the drivemotor, thus eliminating the transmission from the auger-based drivesystem.

With reference to FIG. 4D-2 , device 100 is illustrated without payloadbay 440. This illustrates a configuration of device 100 in which payloadbay 440 has been removed or else device 100 is not configured to supporta payload bay 440.

FIGS. 4E-1 and 4E-2 illustrate bottom plan views of the exterior of adevice 100 which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile ofgranular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 4E-1 a bottom plan view of device 100 is shownwith a payload bay 440 coupled with device 100. As can be seen in FIG.4E-1 , drive auger 403-1 and drive auger 403-2 are arranged in abi-lateral fashion and have flighting wound in opposite directions fromeach other. Thus, the bi-lateral driver augers 403-1 and 403-2 may bereferred to as “opposing screw” drive augers. Propulsion is throughdirect interaction with the granular material in which device 100operates and can be forward, reverse, sideways, and turning.

With reference to FIG. 4E-2 , device 100 is illustrated in bottom planview without payload bay 440. This illustrates a configuration of device100 in which payload bay 440 has been removed or else device 100 is notconfigured to support a payload bay 440.

FIG. 4F illustrates a top plan view of the exterior of a device 100which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile of granularmaterial along with a chart 475 illustrating directional movements, inaccordance with various embodiments. Chart 475 shows some examples ofrotations of augers 403-1 and 403-2 utilized to implement movement ofdevice 100 in the directions indicated by the arrows in the chart. Therotations and movement directions in chart 475 are in relation to theview of device 100 shown in FIG. 4F. Although not depicted, in someembodiments, device 100 may be operated to move laterally to one side orthe other.

FIG. 4G illustrates an upper front right perspective view of theexterior of a device 100 which moves about and/or operates in relationto a pile of granular material, in accordance with various embodiments.

Example Systems

FIG. 5 illustrates some example embodiments of a bulk store slopeadjustment system 500, in accordance with various embodiments. System500 includes at least device 100 when operating autonomously. In someembodiments, system 500 may include device 100 and a remotely locatedremote controller 501 which is communicatively coupled by wireline 510or wirelessly 520 with device 100 (e.g., to interface 104) to sendinstructions or data and/or to receive information or data collected bydevice 100 (e.g., from operation of device 100 and/or from sensor(s) 120and/or payload(s) 140). Remote controller 501 may be like a handholdableremote controller for a video game, or a remotely controlled model caror model airplane. In some embodiments, remote controller may have adisplay screen for visual display of textual information or still/videoimages received from device 100. In some embodiments, remote controller501 is utilized by an operator to maneuver device 100 and/or to operatesensor(s) 120 and/or payload(s) 140. In some embodiments, system 500 mayinclude device 100 and a remotely located computer system 506 which iscommunicatively coupled wirelessly 580 with device 100 to sendinstructions or data and/or to receive/access information or datacollected by device 100 (e.g., from operation of device 100 and/or fromsensor(s) 120 and/or payload(s) 140). In some embodiments, system 500may include device 100 along with a communicatively coupled remotecontroller 501 and a communicatively coupled remotely located computersystem 506. It should be appreciated that wireless communications 520and 580 may be peer-to-peer, over a wide area network, or by otherprotocols.

FIG. 6 illustrates some example embodiments of a bulk store slopeadjustment system 600, in accordance with various embodiments. In someembodiments, system 600 includes device 100 in wireless communicativecoupling 650 (e.g., via the Internet) with one or more of cloud-based602 storage 603 processing 604. In some embodiments, cloud-based 602storage 603 is used to store data collected by device 100. In someembodiments, cloud-based processing 604 is used to process datacollected by device 100 and/or to assist in autonomous decision makingbased on collected day. In some embodiments, system 600 additionallyincludes a remotely located computer 605, communicatively coupled tocloud 602 (e.g., via the internet) either wirelessly 670 or by wireline660. In this fashion, remotely located computer 605 may access data fromdevice 100 which has been uploaded to storage 603 and/or may communicatewith or access device 100 by relay through processing/computer system605 or cloud 602. In some embodiments, system 600 may additionallyinclude one or more components (remote controller 501 and/or remotelylocated computer system 506) which were described in FIG. 5 . In someembodiments, one or more of remote controller 501 and remote computersystem 506 may be communicatively coupled (e.g., 630/640) with cloud 602for transmission and/or receipt of information related to device 100.

Section 2 Example Bulk Store and Example Operations to Adjust Slope of aPortion of Piled Granular Material

FIG. 7A illustrates an example bulk store 700 for granular material, inaccordance with various embodiments. For purposes of example, and notlimitation, bulk store 700 is depicted as a grain bin which is used tobulk store grain (e.g., corn, wheat, soybeans, or other grain). Bulkstore 700 includes an access door 705 through which device 100 may beinserted into and/or removed from bulk store 700. Bulk store 700 alsoincludes a top loading portal 701 through which bulk grain or othergranular material may be filled into bulk store 700, by an auger orother filling system (not depicted in FIG. 7 ), and then fall into bulkstore 700 to form a pile of granular material (e.g., grain 710 shown inFIG. 7B). Section lines depict a location and a direction of Section A-Aand Section B-B which will be illustrated in other figures.

FIG. 7B illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material which shows a device 100 moving about and/oroperating in relation to a portion (portion 720 as shown in FIG. 7C) ofpiled granular material (e.g., grain 710) in the bulk store 700, inaccordance with various embodiments. Because some of grain 710 has beenremoved from the bottom of bulk store 700, a cone shaped concavity onsurface 711A has been created with a slope of approximately 20 degreesdown from the walls to the center of bulk store 700 in the portion ofpiled granular material where device 100 is operating. The slope of 20degrees is used for example purposes only. The maximum angle of thedownward slope from the sides to the middle (or from the middle to thesides) is dictated by the angle of repose, which differs for differentgranular materials and may differ for a particular granular materialbased on environmental physical characteristics (such as moisture) ofthe granular material. When a granular material is steeply sloped andnear the angle of repose, it can be easily triggered to slide and causeentrapment of a person. When the slope of a granular material exceedsits angle of repose, it slides (like an avalanche). Additionally, when asurface 711A of grain 710 becomes steeply sloped toward the center (asillustrated) during removal of grain 710 from bulk store 700, it meansthat much of the removed grain is coming out from the center of the bin,rather than a mixture of grain from all areas of the bin. Leveling, orreduction of slope, of an inwardly sloped pile, reduces risk of a slidefrom a steeply sloped surface 711A and distributes grain from the highsloped edges to prevent/reduce spoilage of those portions of the grain.

Due to the friction of augers 403 against grain 710 and the agitation ofaugers 403 caused to grain 710 when device 100 traverses a portion ofpiled granular material (e.g., portion 720 of grain 710), viscosity ofthe piled granular material at or near surface 711A is disrupted. Thedisruption of viscosity lowers the angle of repose and, because of theslope being caused to exceed the angle of repose, incites sedimentgravity flow in the portion of piled granular material down the slope.Additionally, rotational movement of the augers also displaces grain 710and can be used to auger the grain in a desired direction or expel itsuch that gravity carries it down slope. Either or both of these actionscan be used to disperse grain 710 and/or to adjust (reduce) the slope ofthe surface 711A of portion 720 and other similar portions.

FIG. 7C illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk store700 for granular material which shows a device 100 moving about and/oroperating on surface 711A in relation to a portion 720 of piled granularmaterial 710 in the bulk store 700, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 7D illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk store700 for granular material which shows pattern 730 for moving a device100 about and/or operating on surface 711A in relation to surface aportion 720 of piled granular material 710 in the bulk store 700, inaccordance with various embodiments. In some embodiments, pattern 730may be manually driven by a remotely located operator via remotecontroller 501 (for example). In some embodiments, pattern 730 may beautonomously driven by device 100. In some embodiments, pattern 730 maybe initiated due to a first measurement of the angle of slope of thesurface 711A of grain 710 in portion 720 satisfying a first conditionsuch as being beyond an acceptable threshold angle (e.g., 10 degrees ofslope). Pattern 730 or other patterns of traversal of portion 720 may berepeatedly driven until a follow-on measurement of the angle of slope ofgrain 710 in portion 720 meets a second condition (e.g., falls below thethreshold angle or falls below some other angle such as 7 degrees). Inthis manner a portion (e.g., portion 720) or all of the grain in bulkstore 700 can have its slope adjusted downward, closer to level.

FIG. 7E illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk store700 for granular material which shows pattern 731 for moving a device100 about and/or operating on surface 711A in relation to a portion 720of piled granular material 710 in the bulk store 700, in accordance withvarious embodiments. In some embodiments, pattern 731 may be manuallydriven by a remotely located operator via remote controller 501 (forexample). In some embodiments, pattern 731 may be autonomously driven bydevice 100. In some embodiments, pattern 731 may be initiated due to afirst measurement of the angle of slope of surface 711A of grain 710 inportion 720 satisfying a first condition such as being beyond anacceptable threshold angle (e.g., 10 degrees of slope). Pattern 731 orother pattern(s) of traversal of portion 720 may be repeatedly drivenuntil a follow-on measurement of the angle of slope of surface 711A ofgrain 710 in portion 720 meets a second condition (e.g., falls below thethreshold angle or falls below some other angle such as 7 degrees). Inthis manner a portion (e.g., portion 720) or all of the grain in bulkstore 700 can have its surface slope adjusted downward, closer to level.

FIG. 7F illustrates a top sectional view B-B of an example bulk store700 for granular material which shows pattern 732 for moving a device100 about and/or operating on surface 711A in relation to a portion 720of piled granular material 710 in the bulk store 700, in accordance withvarious embodiments. In some embodiments, pattern 732 may be manuallydriven by a remotely located operator via remote controller 501 (forexample). In some embodiments, pattern 732 may be autonomously driven bydevice 100. In some embodiments, pattern 732 may be initiated due to afirst measurement of the angle of slope of surface 711A of grain 710 inportion 720 satisfying a first condition such as being beyond anacceptable threshold angle (e.g., 10 degrees of slope). Pattern 732 orother pattern(s) of traversal of portion 720 may be repeatedly drivenuntil a follow-on measurement of the angle of slope of surface 711A ofgrain 710 in portion 720 meets a second condition (e.g., falls below thethreshold angle or falls below some other angle such as 7 degrees). Inthis manner a portion (e.g., portion 720) or all of the grain in bulkstore 700 can have its surface slope adjusted downward, closer to level.In FIG. 7F, pattern 732 is confined to portion 720. In such anembodiment, only this portion may be leveled by device 100, or elsedevice 100 may work its way around bulk store 700 portion by portion byportion, leveling surface 711A in each portion completely orincrementally before moving to the next portion.

FIGS. 7D-7F illustrate only three example patterns, many other patternsare possible and anticipated including, but not limited to: gridpatterns, circular patterns, symmetric patterns, unsymmetrical patterns,spiral patterns, random/chaos motion (e.g., patternless), patterns/pathsthat are dynamically determined based on the slope and changes of theslope, and patterns which are cooperatively executed by two or moredevices 100 working in communication with one another. Any of thepatterns executed by device 100 may be stored in host memory 103 forautomated execution by processor 102 controlling the movements of device100 to traverse the pattern. Similarly, patternless or dynamic movementmay be executed by processor 102 in an automated fashion by controllingthe movements of device 100, such as to seek out portions with a slopewhich satisfies a first condition and traverse them until the slopesatisfies the second condition.

In some embodiments, patterns or traversal operations may similarly beutilized to break up and distribute grain 710 to assist it in dryingout, to prevent a crust from forming, to inspect grain, to push graintowards a sweep auger or other uptake, and/or to diminish spoilage.

In some embodiments, patterns or traversal operations may similarly beutilized to level peaks which form in grain or other piled granularmaterial due to the method and/or location in which it is loaded into abulk store. Such leveling better utilizes available storage space,reduces crusts or pipe formation, reduces hotspots, and/or more evenlydistributes granular material of differing moisture contents.

FIG. 7G illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material 710 which shows a device 100 moving aboutand/or operating in relation to one or more portions (e.g., portion 720and the like) on the surface 711B of piled granular material 710 in thebulk store 700, in accordance with various embodiments. FIG. 7G issimilar to FIG. 7B except that the slope of the upper surface 711B hasbeen downwardly adjusted from 20 degrees of surface 711A toapproximately 13 degrees (as measured by device 100 or other means) bytraversal of the surface by device 100 in the manner previouslydescribed to effect surface leveling and slope adjustment. In anembodiment where this 13-degree slope is below a predeterminedthreshold, leveling and slope adjustment operations may cease. In anembodiment where this 13-degree slope is above a predeterminedthreshold, leveling and slope adjustment operations may continue towardachieving a slope threshold which is closer to 0 degrees.

FIG. 7H illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material 710 which shows a device 100 moving aboutand/or operating in relation to a one or more portions (e.g., portion720 and the like) on the surface 711C of piled granular material 710 inthe bulk store 700, in accordance with various embodiments. FIG. 7H issimilar to FIG. 7G except that the slope of the upper surface 711C hasbeen further downwardly adjusted from 13 degrees of surface 711B toapproximately 5 degrees (as measured by device 100 or other means) bytraversal of the surface by device 100 in the manner previouslydescribed to effect surface leveling and slope adjustment. In anembodiment where this 5-degree slope is below a predetermined threshold,leveling and slope adjustment operations may cease. In an embodimentwhere this 5-degree slope is above a predetermined threshold, levelingoperations may continue toward achieving a slope threshold which iscloser to 0 degrees.

FIG. 7I illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material 710 which shows a device 100 moving aboutand/or operating in relation to one or more portions (e.g., portion 720and the like) on the surface 711D of piled granular material 710 in thebulk store 700, in accordance with various embodiments. FIG. 7I differsfrom FIGS. 7B, 7G, and 7H, in that the slope of surface 711D of grain710 is now peaked in the middle and low on the edges, sloping downwardat about 17 degrees from the center due to filling of additional grain710 atop surface 711C of FIG. 7H via centrally located top loadingportal 701 (see e.g., FIG. 7A). In some embodiments, device 100 canoperate in the same manner to level grain 710 during and/or aftercompletion of the fill operation.

FIG. 7J illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material 710 which shows a device 100 moving aboutand/or operating in relation to a one or more portions (e.g., portion720 and the like) on the surface 711E of piled granular material 710 inthe bulk store 700, in accordance with various embodiments. FIG. 7J issimilar to FIG. 7I except that the slope of the upper surface 711E hasbeen downwardly adjusted from 17 degrees of surface 711D toapproximately 4 degrees (as measured by device 100 or other means) bytraversal of the surface by device 100 in the previously manner forsurface leveling and slope adjustment. In an embodiment where this4-degree slope is below a predetermined threshold, leveling and slopeadjustment operations may cease. In an embodiment where this 4-degreeslope is above a predetermined threshold, leveling operations maycontinue toward achieving a slope threshold which is closer to 0degrees.

FIG. 7K illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material 710 which shows a device 100 moving aboutand/or operating in relation to one or more portions (e.g., portion 720and the like) on the surface 711F of piled granular material 710 in thebulk store 700, in accordance with various embodiments. FIG. 7Killustrates an embodiment where additional grain 710 has been loadedatop the substantially leveled surface 711E of FIG. 7J and is now peakedin the middle and low on the edges, sloping downward at about 16 degreesfrom the center due to filling of additional grain 710 atop surface 711Eof FIG. 7J via centrally located top loading portal 701 (see e.g., FIG.7A). In some embodiments, device 100 can operate in the same manner tolevel grain 710 during and/or after completion of the fill operation.

FIG. 7L illustrates a side sectional view A-A of an example bulk store700 for granular material 710 which shows a device 100 moving aboutand/or operating in relation to a one or more portions (e.g., portion720 and the like) on the surface 711G of piled granular material 710 inthe bulk store 700, in accordance with various embodiments. FIG. 7L issimilar to FIG. 7K except that the slope of the upper surface 711G hasbeen downwardly adjusted from about 16 degrees of surface 711F toapproximately 3 degrees (as measured by device 100 or other means) bytraversal of the surface by device 100 in the previously manner forsurface leveling and slope adjustment. In an embodiment where this3-degree slope is below a predetermined threshold, leveling and slopeadjustment operations may cease. In an embodiment where this 4-degreeslope is above a predetermined threshold, leveling operations maycontinue toward achieving a slope threshold which is closer to 0degrees.

Example Method(s) of Bulk Store Slope Adjustment

Procedures of the methods illustrated by flow diagram 800 of FIGS. 8A-8Ewill be described with reference to elements and/or components of one ormore of FIGS. 1-7L. It is appreciated that in some embodiments, theprocedures may be performed in a different order than described in aflow diagram, that some of the described procedures may not beperformed, and/or that one or more additional procedures to thosedescribed may be performed. Flow diagram 800 includes some proceduresthat, in various embodiments, are carried out by one or more processors(e.g., host processor 102 or any processor of device 100 or a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled) under thecontrol of computer-readable and computer-executable instructions thatare stored on non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., hostmemory 103, other internal memory of device 100, or memory of a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled). It is furtherappreciated that one or more procedures described in flow diagram 800may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware withfirmware and/or software.

For purposes of example only, device 100 of FIGS. 1-7L is a roboticdevice which utilizes augers (403) to move and maneuver with respect topiled granular material, such as, but not limited to grain. Robot 100will be described as operating on or in relation to piled granularmaterial in a bulk store, such as, but not limited to grain in a grainbin. In some embodiments, the robot 100 is free of mechanical couplingwith a structure (e.g., the bulk store) in which the piled granularmaterial is contained. For example, in some embodiments, there is notether or safety harness coupling the robot 100 to the grain storage binand it operates autonomously or under wireless remote control. In someembodiments, robot 100 performs the method of flow diagram 800completely autonomously. In some embodiments, robot 100 performs themethod of flow diagram 800 semi-autonomously such as by measuring aslope of grain, sending the slope to an external computer system whichthen determines a pattern for robot 100 to autonomously execute whentraversing the piled grain. In some embodiments, robot 100 performs themethod of flow diagram 800 semi-autonomously such as by receiving aremotely measured slope of grain, then autonomously determining apattern for robot 100 to autonomously execute when traversing the piledgrain.

FIGS. 8A-8E illustrate a flow diagram 800 of an example method of bulkstore slope adjustment, in accordance with various embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 8A, at procedure 810 of flow diagram 800, invarious embodiments, a robot 100 which includes a processor 102, amemory 103, and an auger-based drive system (e.g., augers 403), obtainsa first measurement of an angle of slope of a portion of piled granularmaterial in a bulk store, wherein the robot 100 comprises an auger-baseddrive system. With reference to FIGS. 7A-7L, this can comprise a measureof the angle of slope of the surface 711 of portion 720 of grain 710 inbin 700. The angle can be measured and obtained autonomously by robot100 or can be measured by a device external to robot 100 and thenobtained by being communicated to or accessed by robot 100. In anembodiment, where the angle of slope of surface 711 is measured by robot100, motion sensor(s) 220 may be used to measure the angle of robot 100on a slope of portion 720 to approximate the angle of the slope. In someembodiment, procedure 810 may be skipped and an operator may simplydirect robot 100 to begin traversal of a portion (e.g., portion 720) ofpiled granular material.

With continued reference to FIG. 8A, at procedure 820 of flow diagram800, in various embodiments, in response to the first measurementsatisfying a first condition, the robot 100 traverses the portion ofpiled granular material to incite sediment gravity flow in the portionof piled granular material by disruption of viscosity of the portion ofpiled granular material through agitation of the portion of piledgranular material by auger rotation of the auger-based drive system. Thetraversal may be controlled by host processor 102 via control of thedirection of rotation and/or the speed of rotation of augers 403 ofrobot 100. Robot 100 may traverse the portion (e.g., portion 720) of thesurface 711 of piled granular material (e.g., piled grain 710) in apredetermined pattern, which may be a predetermined pattern of movementstored in host memory 103 of robot 100. Robot 100 may traverse theportion (e.g., portion 720) of piled granular material (e.g., piledgrain 710) in a patternless or random/chaos manner or by followingdictates other than a pattern such as by dynamically seeking out areasof slope above a certain measure. In some embodiments, a pattern may bechanged or altered based on information sensed by robot 100.

With continued reference to FIG. 8A, at procedure 830 of flow diagram800, in various embodiments, robot 100 obtains a second measurement ofthe angle of slope of the portion of piled granular material. Thissecond measurement is obtained after the robot has traversed the portion(e.g., portion 720) of surface 711 following a pattern, for apredetermined period of time, or based on other criteria forre-measurement of the slope. The second angle measurement can bemeasured and obtained autonomously by robot 100 or can be measured by adevice external to robot 100 and then obtained by being communicated toor accessed by robot 100.

With continued reference to FIG. 8A, at procedure 840 of flow diagram800, in various embodiments, in response to the second measurementsatisfying a second condition, robot 100 ceases traversal of the portionof piled granular material. In some embodiments, the first condition isrelated to a first angle and the second condition is related to a secondangle.

In some embodiments, where the first angle is the same as the secondangle, the first condition may be met when the first measurement exceedsthe angle, and the second measurement may be met when the secondmeasurement falls below the angle. For example, the angle may be 10degrees, and when the first measurement is 20 degrees, traversal willcontinue until the angle is adjusted to below 10 degrees.

In some embodiments, where the first angle and the second angle aredifferent, the first angle is larger than the second angle. For example,the first angle may be 10 degrees while the second angle is 5 degrees.In such an embodiment, when the first measurement is 20 degrees,traversal will continue until the angle meets the second condition(e.g., drops below 5 degrees).

With reference to FIG. 8B, at procedure 850 of flow diagram 800, invarious embodiments, in response to the second measurement failing tosatisfy the second condition, robot 100 continues traversal of theportion of piled granular material. For example, if the second conditionspecifies that the measurement of slope needs to be reduced to below 5degrees, the robot would continue traversal of the portion of piledgranular material in response to the second measurement being 13degrees.

With reference to FIG. 8C, at procedure 860 of flow diagram 800, invarious embodiments, during traversal of the portion (e.g., 720) ofpiled granular material by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot 100 actsunder instruction of host processor 102 to capture a measurement of acharacteristic of the portion of piled grain. Some examplecharacteristics include, but are not limited to, capturing a measurementof: temperature, humidity, moisture, gas composition, electrostaticnature, and/or electrochemical nature. A measured characteristic mayalso comprise an optical and/or infrared image. The captured measurementof a characteristic can be stored within memory 103 or transmitted fromrobot 100. In some embodiments, the captured measurement of acharacteristic is paired with a location of robot 100 at the time ofcapture of the measurement. Such paired data can be used to create acharacteristic map of the piled granular material which is traversed byrobot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a base station (506, 605) communicatively coupledwith robot 100. The base station (506, 605) is located remotely from therobot and may be configured to communicate with robot 100 over theInternet, via a wide-area network, via a peer-to-peer communication, orby other means. Via such communications, the base station (506, 605) mayreceive data collected by robot 100 (including motion sensor data)collected by the robot during the traversal of the portion of piledgranular material. Additionally, or alternatively, via suchcommunications, the base station (506, 605) may relay instructions torobot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a cloud-based 602 storage 603 and/or processing604 which is/are communicatively coupled with robot 100. The cloud-basedinfrastructure 602 may be utilized to process data, store data, makedata available to other devices (e.g., computer 605), and/or relayinformation or instructions from other devices (e.g., computer 605) torobot 100.

With reference to FIG. 8D, at procedure 870 of flow diagram 800, invarious embodiments, a temperature sensor 233, infrared sensor 236, orinfrared camera 108 of robot 100 is used to capture a temperaturemeasurement of the portion of piled granular material during thetraversal of the portion of piled granular material. In someembodiments, the captured measurement of a characteristic is paired witha location of robot 100 at the time of capture of the temperaturemeasurement. Such paired data can be used to create a heat map of thepiled granular material which is traversed by robot 100.

The heat map, when implemented, provides a data visualization that showschanges in temperature as changes in surface color or shading relativeto the traversed surface or a depiction thereof. It should beappreciated that the heat map type visualization can similarly be usedto show changes in other measured data relative to a traversed surfaceor depiction thereof. In other embodiments, the paired data may can begraphed or mapped spatially such as on a depiction of the traversedsurface; and in some embodiments the spatially mapped/graphed data isinteractive such that a user may click on a point of paired data to showa visualization of the underlying data associated with the paired data(e.g., the measured 3-D location and temperature). It should be suchheat maps and spatially mapped/graphed data is formatted, in someembodiments, for display on a computer or monitor display (e.g., thedisplay associated with a controller 501, a computer 506, a computer605, or the like) to support management of the piled granular materialand the bulk store during loading, storage, and/or unloading of thepiled granular material. Among other management activities, thecollected and visually displayed data may assist a human (e.g., afarmer, worker, bin manager) in controlling hot spots, controlling moldconditions, manipulating grain to reduce spoilage, manipulating grain toreduce formation of grain bridges, manipulating grain to reduceformation to disperse BGFM (e.g., small particles, broken grain, chaff,and the like), manipulating grain to unload grain with desiredcharacteristics (e.g., desired moisture level and/or desired visualexterior surface characteristics such as low cracking), managing orhaving knowledge of a slope of the piled grain, etc.

With reference to FIG. 8E, at procedure 880 of flow diagram 800, invarious embodiments, robot 100 collects a sample from the portion ofpiled granular material during the traversal of the portion of piledgranular material. For example, with reference to FIG. 4A-2 , processor102 or a remotely located operator may direct a sample collectiondevice, such as gatherer payload 342, to open to collect a sample ofgrain at a particular location and to close after a sample is collectedor a predetermined time period has elapsed.

Mapping Piled Granular Material in a Bulk Store

In various embodiments, for example, device 100 can operate via remotecontrolled instruction, autonomously, or some combination thereof.Although various embodiments of a device 100 are described herein (e.g.,device 100, device 100B), it is referred to generically as device 100.Also, as discussed above, device 100 is robotic and may be referred toas a “robot” (e.g., “robot 100”) or as a “robotic device,” (e.g.,“robotic device 100”) or the like. Device 100 includes an auger-baseddrive system which facilitates the movement and/or operation of device100 in relation to a portion of piled granular material (e.g., grain) ina bulk store 700, such as a grain bin.

A device 100 may record its location in three dimensions as it traversesa surface 711 of a piled granular material 710 in a bulk store 700. Forexample, three-dimensional positions may be recorded during anytraversal, such a random traversal, a traversal in a pattern such as theexample patterns illustrated in FIGS. 7D-7F, or during a patternexecuted purposefully for mapping or surface management as illustratedin FIG. 9A-9C. The positions may be stored and later or on-the-flyassembled into a three-dimensional map of the surface 711 of the piledgranular material 710 (e.g., grain). The assembly of the map may beperformed by device 100, or the positions may be communicatively coupledsuch as by wireless communication to an external computer system 506located remotely from the device. The external computer system 506 maythen assemble the recorded locations into a three-dimensional map of thesurface 711 of the piled granular material 710 (e.g., grain).

Positions of device 100 may be acquired by any suitable means, includingbut not limited to: differential Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) positioning, real-time kinematic GNSS positioning, triangulationfrom at least two known points marked inside and/or outside the bulkstore 710 (e.g., by optically, sonically, ultrasonically, or via radiosignals measuring angle and distance to the known points); using motionsensors 220 and additionally a barometric sensor 239 (in someembodiments) as an internal inertial measurement unit (IMU) to navigatefrom a known starting location; and receiving a position communicated(wirelessly) from an external source such as a camera or laser measuringdevice mounted to the internal roof or upper wall of a bulk store (e.g.,bulk store 700). In various embodiments, more than one positioning meansmay be used.

The three-dimensional map may be assembled by plotting the recordedlocations, such as on a three-dimensional graph with X, Y, and Z axis.This three-dimensional map may be viewed in any desired orientation orview and may be overlaid on a depiction of the bulk store 700 in whichthe assembled positions were recorded. In some embodiments, thethree-dimensional map may be used to determine how much, if any,leveling needs to be performed on a surface 711 of a piled granularmaterial 710. In some embodiments, when coupled with a known location ofa bottom surface of a bulk store 700 (such as a grain bin), the volumebetween the mapped three-dimensional surface 711 (e.g., a surfacecontour map) and the bottom of the bulk store 700 may be calculated bydevice 100 or the external computer system 506.

Additionally, during any traversal of piled granular material 710,device 100 may capture one or more environmental characteristics withits sensors (e.g., temperature (with temperature sensor 233), humidity(e.g., with humidity sensor 242), moisture (e.g., directly with moisturesensor 234 or indirectly via calculation from measured temperature andhumidity), amount of carbon dioxide (e.g., with carbon dioxide sensor241), a measurement of atmospheric pressure (e.g., with barometricsensor 239), an optical image (e.g., with optical sensor/camera 235) torecord visible environmental conditions, and an infrared image (e.g.,with infrared sensor/camera 236), among others. For example, one or moresensors 120 of device 100 may capture measurements of environmentalcharacteristics relative to the piled granular material being traversedby device 100. In some embodiments, such measurements may be taken atlocations that are specified by coordinates with respect to the bulkstore 700. In some embodiments, such measurements may be taken atintervals of time passed and/or distance traveled. In an example of timeseparated measurement intervals, an environmental measurement may betaken by one or more of the sensors 120 every 5 seconds, every 10seconds, or more than once per second (e.g., 2, 3, or 10 times persecond) as device 100 traverses. In an example of distance separatedmeasurement intervals, an environmental measurement may be taken by oneor more of the sensors 120 each time device 100 has moved a specifieddistance from a previous location (e.g., every centimeter of travel,every 5 centimeters of travel, every 10 centimeters of travel, everymeter of travel, etc.). In some embodiments, the time and/orthree-dimensional location of an environmental measurement captured by asensor 120 is/are noted and stored in conjunction with capturedenvironmental characteristics.

In some embodiments, device 100 may assemble the captured environmentalcharacteristic(s) onto the three-dimensional surface map of the surface711 of a piled granular material 710. In other embodiments, device 100may communicatively couple (e.g., by wireless communication) theenvironmental characteristics and their respective three-dimensionallocations and/or times of capture to external computer system 506 whichthen assembles them onto the three-dimensional surface map of thesurface 711 of a piled granular material 710.

In some embodiments, multiple three-dimensional maps may be made overtime, such as during filling or withdrawal of piled granular material710 from the bulk store 700. These maps may be combined to form athree-dimensional map of the captured environmental characteristics ofthe piled granular material 710. The assembly of multiple surface mapsin this manner may be accomplished by device 100 or computer system 506,or other computing system which is supplied with the capturedenvironmental characteristics and respective three-dimensional locationsof capture.

Referring now to FIGS. 9A-9B, a plurality of patterns 930A, 930B, and930B are illustrated, in accordance with some embodiments. The patternsmay be used for surface mapping (measuring characteristics with sensors,delivering probes, etc.) and/or for surface/grain bin management (e.g.,breaking up crusts and/or grain bridges, dispersing BGFM during load-in,leveling a surface, smoothing a surface, assisting with extraction orload-out, and/or assisting with final clean-out). For purposes ofexample, and not of limitation, with reference to FIG. 7H and FIG. 9A,device 100 may start at location 931A and follow pattern 930A asillustrated by the dashed lines and directional arrows until endpoint932A is reached. As discussed previously, locations of device 100 may berecorded in three-dimensions during the traversal in the mapping pattern930A upon surface 711C. In some embodiments, one or more types ofenvironmental characteristics may be captured (and their respectivethree-dimensional locations recorded/noted) during the traversal of themapping pattern 930A of surface 711C. It should be appreciated that thepatterns illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9C are only examples and that otherpatterns including crossing patterns and ad-hoc and/or structuredpatterns which occur during surface leveling or other traversing of asurface of piled granular material may be employed for mapping and/ormanagement of piled granular material.

With reference to FIG. 7J and FIG. 9B, device 100 may start at location931B and follow the pattern 930B as illustrated by the dashed lines anddirectional arrows until endpoint 932B is reached. As discussedpreviously, locations of device 100 may be recorded in three dimensionsduring the traversal in the mapping pattern 930B upon surface 711E. Insome embodiments, one or more types of environmental characteristics maybe captured (and their respective three-dimensional locations noted)during the traversal of the mapping pattern 930B of surface 711E.

With reference to FIG. 7L and FIG. 9C, device 100 may start at location931C and follow the pattern 930C as illustrated by the dashed lines anddirectional arrows until endpoint 932C is reached. As discussedpreviously, locations of device 100 may be recorded in three-dimensionsduring the traversal in the mapping pattern 930C upon surface 711G. Insome embodiments, one or more types of environmental characteristics maybe captured (and their respective three-dimensional locations noted)during the traversal of the mapping pattern 930C of surface 711G.

Maps and Data Visualization

In various embodiments, collected data may be formatted in any suitablemanner for display to a human. In some embodiments, collected data ismatched with locations of collection and formatted for display on acomputer/monitor display (e.g., a display associated with a controller501, a computer 506, a computer 605, or the like) to support managementof the piled granular material from which the data was collected and thebulk store during loading, storage, and/or unloading of the piledgranular material. Among other management activities, the collected andvisually displayed data may assist a human (e.g., a farmer, worker, binmanager) in controlling hot spots, controlling mold conditions,manipulating grain to reduce spoilage, manipulating grain to reduceformation of grain bridges, manipulating grain to reduce formation todisperse fine materials (e.g., small particles and chaff), manipulatinggrain to unload grain with desired characteristics (e.g., desiredmoisture level and/or desired visual exterior surface characteristicssuch as low cracking), calculating/estimating the amount of piledgranular material in the bulk store. FIGS. 10A-10G show some examples ofmaps/visualizations which may be mapped, graphed, or otherwisevisualized from three-dimensional locations of device 100 recordedduring traversal of a surface of piled granular material.

FIG. 10A illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010A of the surface 711Cof the piled granular material 710 of FIG. 7H assembled fromthree-dimensional locations of device 100 recorded during traversal ofthe surface 711C in a mapping pattern (e.g., mapping pattern 930A),according to an embodiment. It should be appreciated that surface shapeof surface 711C may be approximated (as illustrated) from thethree-dimensional points collected during traversal of surface 711C bythe device in a mapping pattern, where a high point and a slope to thelow points is illustrated. In other embodiments, the collected pointsmay be coupled by lines to create a wireframe graph which provides arepresentational depiction of the topology of the surface 711C. Invarious embodiments, some or all of the recorded three-dimensionallocation data may not be associated with the mapping pattern. That is,two or more different mapping patterns may be employed and/orthree-dimensional locations of device 100 recorded during othertraversal of surface 711C (i.e., not as part of a mapping pattern) maybe employed. For example, three-dimensional locations of device 100recorded during traversal within a time delimited range (e.g., within a15-minute period, a 30-minute period, a one-hour period, etc.). When atime delimited range is utilized, it may be set as a default parameterassociated with mapping and/or it may be a user settable/adjustablerange, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10B illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010B of the surface 711Cand two types of environmental characteristics of the piled granularmaterial 710 of FIG. 7H assembled from three-dimensional locations ofdevice 100 recorded during traversal of the surface 711C in a mappingpattern (e.g., pattern 930A), according to an embodiment. For example,squares 1011 represent captured temperature measurements and theirrespective locations of capture; while triangles 1012 represent capturedrelative humidity measurements and their respective locations ofcapture. It should be appreciated that the moisture content of agranular material (e.g., a grain) can be mathematically calculated fromtemperature and humidity measurements captured at approximately the samelocation, and in this manner, a three-dimensional map of grain moisturecan be similarly assembled. Alternatively, in some embodiments triangles1012 may represent moisture of a sample of granular material as measuredby moisture sensor 234. In yet another embodiment, squares 1011 mayrepresent measurements of temperature (e.g., measured by temperaturesensor 233) and their respective locations of capture while triangles1012 represent measurements of air flow (e.g., sensed by air flow sensor240) and their respective locations of capture.

FIG. 10C illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010C of the surface 711Eof the piled granular material 710 of FIG. 7J assembled fromthree-dimensional locations of device 100 recorded during traversal ofthe surface 711E in a mapping pattern (e.g., pattern 930B), according toan embodiment.

FIG. 10D illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010D of the surface 711Eand two types of environmental characteristics of the piled granularmaterial 710 of FIG. 7J assembled from three-dimensional locations ofdevice 100 recorded during traversal of the surface 711E in a mappingpattern (e.g., pattern 930B), according to an embodiment. For example,squares 1011 represent captured temperature measurements and theirrespective locations of capture; while triangles 1012 represent capturedrelative humidity measurements and their respective locations ofcapture. It should be appreciated that the moisture content of agranular material (e.g., a grain) can be mathematically calculated fromtemperature and humidity measurements captured at approximately the samelocation, and in this manner, a three-dimensional map of grain moisturecan be similarly assembled.

FIG. 10E illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010E of the surface 711Gof the piled granular material 710 of FIG. 7L assembled fromthree-dimensional locations of device 100 recorded during traversal ofthe surface 711G in a mapping pattern (e.g., pattern 930C), according toan embodiment.

FIG. 10F illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010F of the surface 711Gand two types of environmental characteristics of the piled granularmaterial 710 of FIG. 7L assembled from three-dimensional locations ofdevice 100 recorded during traversal of the surface 711G in a mappingpattern (e.g., pattern 930C), according to an embodiment. For example,squares 1011 represent captured temperature measurements and theirrespective locations of capture; while triangles 1012 represent capturedrelative humidity measurements and their respective locations ofcapture. It should be appreciated that the moisture content of agranular material (e.g., a grain) can be mathematically calculated fromtemperature and humidity measurements captured at approximately the samelocation, and in this manner, a three-dimensional map of grain moisturecan be similarly assembled. A variety of such moisture calculationsexist for different grains, and are known in the art.

FIG. 10G illustrates a three-dimensional map 1010G of the surface 711Gand the overall pile of piled granular material 710 made by mappingduring the filling illustrated in FIGS. 7G-7L along with two types ofenvironmental characteristics (1011 and 1012) of the piled granularmaterial, according to an embodiment. For example, three-dimensionalmaps 1010B, 1010D, and 1010E can be combined to provide a mapping ofenvironmental characteristics on the surface of and within piledgranular material 710 of FIG. 7L.

Average elevations of the floor of the bulk store (elevation 1050) andelevations of surfaces (elevations 1051, 1052, and 1053) associated withvarious load-ins of grain are depicted. For example, the map of thefirst surface leveled load-in associated with surface 711C has anaverage elevation 1051; the map of the second surface leveled load-in ofgrain associated with surface 711E has an average elevation 1052; andthe map of the third surface leveled load-in of grain associated withsurface 711G has an average elevation 1053.

Although three three-dimensional maps have been illustrated as beingrecorded/captured/assembled in conjunction with piled granular material710, it is appreciated that a greater or lesser number may berecorded/captured/assembled in other embodiments. For example, athree-dimensional map of environmental characteristics of granularmaterial 710 may be made for every 1 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm, etc. change inheight of granular material 710 such that one or more environmentalcharacteristics of a pile of granular material 710 are mapped in aplurality of three-dimensional map slices.

Example Uses of Mapping

In some embodiments, a three-dimensional mapping of the surface 711 of apile of granular material can be used in conjunction with informationabout the piled granular material (e.g., moisture profiles and/orestimates) and/or information about the bulk store (such as theelevation of the floor) to estimate a volume of piled granular material710 between the surface 711 and the floor.

In some embodiments, one or more three-dimensional mapping of thesurface 711 of may be created during the filling granular material, thuscreating a plurality of slice type mappings of granular material withinthe pile. In an embodiment where one or more environmentalcharacteristics are also captured in conjunction with thethree-dimensional mapping, environmental characteristics are also mappedin slice maps which provide a three-dimensional mapping of the capturedenvironmental characteristic(s) within the pile.

Using the three-dimensional surface mappings, a volume of granularmaterial between two slice maps in a pile or associated with a singleslice map in a pile can be accurately tracked as it is removed (andmoves downward) in response to removing granular material from the topof the pile within the bulk store (when unloading from the bottom afunnel effect causes grain to funnel downward from the top surface, sounloading is typically last-in, first-out). In this manner, a particularvolume of granular material associated with certain mapped environmentalcharacteristics can be tracked so that it can be processed in a desiredway. That is, because it is knowable and trackable when certain mappedgranular material will be accessed and removed and how much granularmaterial needs to be removed to access it, the mapped granular materialmay be set aside (upon removal) for disposal if it possesses undesirableenvironmental characteristics. Similarly, because it is knowable whenmapped granular material will be accessed and removed, the mappedgranular material may be: routed (upon removal) for sale to a particularclient who desires the mapped environmental characteristics associatedwith the volume of granular material; sold for an increased price if itpossesses desirable mapped environmental characteristics; and/or presoldto a particular client based upon the mapped environmentalcharacteristics. For example, and with reference to 1000G of FIG. 10G anoverall volume of grain can be estimated by finding the volume of acylinder with a radius of half the diameter of bulk store 700 and aheight equivalent to the elevation 1053 minus elevation 1050. This workswhen the successive load-ins are leveled to within a few degrees of 0.Similarly, a volume for any of the load-ins can be calculated by findingthe cylindrical volume between the surface of the last load-in and thesurface of the load-in being estimated. When precise slopes are known ofleveled surfaces of each load-in, those slopes can be incorporated tofurther refine the estimate, such as by calculating a cylindrical volumeand adding on the volume of a shallow cone.

Delivery of Payloads in a Bulk Store

A device 100, such as a robot, may precisely deliver and retrievepayloads within a bulk store (e.g., bulk store 700) for granularmaterial. The payload may be any desired payload which can be carried bydevice 100, numerous of which have been discussed previously, and mayinclude a sensor (e.g., a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, anelevation sensor, or some combination of sensors) or a probe whichincludes one or more of these sensors and is configured to record and/orwirelessly communicate information measured by the sensors. In variousembodiments, a probe may collect information about the granular material(grain) which proximally surrounds it (e.g., the temperature local tothe probe). In various embodiments, for example, device 100 can operatevia remote controlled instruction, autonomously, or some combinationthereof. As discussed above, device 100 is robotic and may be referredto as a “robot” or as a “robotic device,” and includes an auger-baseddrive system which facilitates the movement and/or operation of thedevice in relation to a portion of piled granular material in a bulkstore 700, such as a grain bin. The robotic device can be equipped witha payload delivery system allowing the precise placing of a payload suchas a probe, including location coordinates within the bulk store. Insome embodiments, this location is marked and stored in the payloadduring delivery and or in the robotic device 100 upon delivery of thepayload. For example, the robot maneuvers on the granular material withits auger driven propulsion and using an adaptable tool or a probedelivery module which may be carried in payload bay 440 (e.g., probedelivery payload 344) or elsewhere on device 100, delivers the probe,and marks the probe's location upon delivery/deposition onto thegranular material. An adaptable tool can deliver a variety of probes,while a probe delivery module may be configured for delivering and/orretrieving a specific type of probe.

One embodiment of a probe delivery payload 344 is illustrated in FIGS.11A-11E, it is appreciated that any suitable probe delivery payload maybe similarly utilized and that the embodiment of FIGS. 11A-11E isprovided by way of example and not of limitation.

FIG. 11A illustrates a top view of an example probe delivery payload 344which may be coupled to and controlled by a device 100 which moves aboutand/or operates in relation to a pile of granular material, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 11B illustrates a front view of an example probe delivery payload344 which may be coupled to and controlled by a device 100, inaccordance with various embodiments. The rear view is substantially thesame.

FIG. 11C illustrates a bottom view of an example probe delivery payload344 which may be coupled to and controlled by device 100, in accordancewith various embodiments. A plurality of doors 1101 (1101-1, 1101-2,1101-3, 1101-4, 1101-5, 1101-6, 1101-7, 1101-8, 1101-9) are depicted,but a greater or lesser number may be used in various embodiments. Eachof the doors 1101 may be independently opened by a device 100, or aprocessor thereof, such as by actuating a solenoid which holds aparticular door in a closed position.

FIG. 11D illustrates a right side view of an example probe deliverypayload 344 which may be coupled to and controlled by a device 100, inaccordance with various embodiments. The left side view is a mirrorimage thereof.

FIG. 11E illustrates a right side view of an example probe deliverypayload 344 which may be coupled to and controlled by a device 100, inaccordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 11E, door 1101-1 has beenopened by a device 100 (not depicted in FIG. 11E), freeing a payload1110 to be dropped via gravity. Payload 1110 may be a probe which isleft behind after it lands on a surface upon which a device 100 isoperating.

FIG. 12 illustrates a right elevational view of the exterior of a device100B which moves about and/or operates in relation to a pile of granularmaterial 710, in accordance with various embodiments. Device 100B issimilar to device 100 illustrated in FIG. 4C-2 , except that probedelivery payload 344 has been coupled to its rear and communicativelycoupled to a host processor 102 which exerts control over which doors1101 to open and when to open them in order to precisely deliver apayload 1110.

Several methods of payload delivery are described in conjunction withthe description of FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 . It should be appreciated thatalthough these methods are described in isolation for purposes ofclarity, they may be used in various combinations with one another. Forexample, while probes are being delivered according to a predeterminedpattern, a device 100 (e.g., device 100B) may deliver an individualprobe in a place which is not specified by the pattern in response toreceiving remote controlled instructions to do so and/or in response tosensing specified criteria which satisfy a requirement for delivery of aprobe.

A pattern for probe delivery may be the same pattern (or a portionthereof) used to level a piled granular material in a bin or otherstore. For example, during the leveling probes may be dispensed atdesignated locations which may be manually selected,predetermined/preprogrammed, and/or in response to meeting of sensedcriterial (e.g., one or some combination of location, temperaturemeasured, air flow measured, moisture of granular material measured,etc.). That is, while leveling piled granular material, device 100B mayencounter locations or criteria which dictate triggering of payloaddelivery. In this manner, payload delivery may, in some embodiments,occur coincident with other activities of device 100B.

FIG. 13 illustrates robot delivery of a payload 1110, which may be aprobe, in a bulk store in a predetermined three-dimensional pattern asgranular material such as grain is added to the bulk store 700,according to various embodiments. Bulk store is shown as athree-dimensional side section view, similar to section A-A of FIG. 7B.Dashed discs 1301, 1302, and 1303 (shown in FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 )represent maps of surfaces at different levels within a pile of piledgranular material 710.

In FIG. 13 , device 100B is illustrated delivering a plurality of probes1110 (e.g., 1110-1 through 1110-15) over a period of time as grain hasbeen loaded through top loading portal 701 of bulk store 700 to form apile 710 of granular material (e.g., a pile of grain). For example, atthe level represented by disk 1301, at the beginning of the loading ofgrain, device 100B delivered probes 1110-1 and 1110-2 according to aspecified and predetermined, spaced out pattern. At level represented bydisk 1302, after more grain has been loaded atop the level representedby disk 1301 of piled granular material 710, device 100B deliveredprobes 1110-3 through 1110-7 according to a specified and predetermined,spaced out pattern (which may be the same or different than the patternemployed on the level represented by disk 1301). At level represented bydisk 1303, after more grain has been loaded atop the level representedby disk 1302 of the piled granular material 710, device 100B deliveredprobes 1110-8 through 1110-15 according to a specified andpredetermined, spaced out pattern (which may be the same or differentthan the pattern employed on the level represented by disk 1301 and/oron the level represented by disk 1302). In the illustrated embodiment,probe 1110-15 has just been delivered relative to a preprogramedposition on piled granular material 710.

In some embodiments, a method of probe delivery in a predeterminedpattern within a bulk store, such as a grain bin may include some of thefollowing procedures. A probe 1110, or set of probes 1110, is loadedinto the probe delivery payload 344 of device 100B. Device 100B is giveninstructions on where to deliver the probes via a pattern selection inits programmable memory 103. Device 100B is placed in the bulk store 700facility (or on a pile of granular material 710). Granular material(e.g., grain) begins to be loaded into the bulk store 700 and/or ontothe pile 710, in some embodiments. Device 100B performs a series ofmaneuvers on the surface of the granular material to position itselfwith respect to the pattern which it is executing by traversing thepiled granular material 710 (which may be in the process of loading suchas through a top loading portal 701). A probe 1110 is placed by device100B (e.g., by controlling dispensation of the probe 1110 from the probedelivery payload 344) in the precise location when device 100B arrivesthrough its maneuvering at a predetermined location in the programmedpattern. In some embodiments, the location is marked by device 100B withthe probe identification (e.g., a serial number or other number assignedto the dispensed probe 1110) position coordinates at the time of thedelivery. Inside of a bulk store 700, the position may be realized bytriangulation to beacons or other suitable means such as overhead videotracking. As part of the marking, the probe identification and/orposition may be stored in a memory of device 100B and or wirelesslytransmitted by device 100B. In the same manner, according to thepreprogrammed pattern, one or more additional probes 1110 may be placedand, in some embodiments, may have their probe identification and placedposition coordinates marked (i.e., recorded by device 100B and/orwirelessly transmitted by device 100B).

FIG. 14 illustrates robot delivery of a payload 1110, which may be aprobe, by a device 100B in a bulk store 700 when triggered by detectionof specified criteria, according to various embodiments. In FIG. 12 ,device 100B is illustrated delivering a probe 1110-1 to a specificpreprogrammed location 1410 which may be a two-dimensional location or athree-dimensional location (where the third dimension is elevation). Thelocation may be specified as an exact set of coordinates or as a smallgeo-fence within which to deliver the probe 1110-1. A plurality ofprobes may be delivered in this manner to a plurality of preprogrammedlocations. The specified criteria discussed above may be arrival ofdevice 100B at the predetermined location 1410, however additionaland/or different specified criteria may determine when/where a probe1110-1 is delivered. For example, device 100B may deposit a temperaturesensing probe 1110 upon device 100B sensing a temperature of grain in alocality of granular material it is traversing meeting a specificcriterion (e.g., exceeding a threshold temperature).

In some embodiments, a method of probe delivery within a bulk store 700,such as a grain bin, in response to detection of specified criteria mayinclude some of the following procedures. Probe 1110, or a set ofprobes, is loaded into the probe delivery payload 344 of device 100B.Device 100B is placed in the bulk store facility 700 (or on a pile ofgranular material 710). Granular material (e.g., grain) begins to beloaded into the bulk store 700 and/or onto the pile 710, in someembodiments. Device 100B performs a series of maneuvers on the surfaceof the piled granular material 710 to position itself, where themaneuvers may be automated, based on stored instructions (e.g., apattern), based on human remote control, or some combination thereof.Device 100B performs a series of readings with on-board sensors. Theprobe 1110 is placed in the specific location when the sensor readingsdetect a predetermined condition (i.e., the specified criteria, such asgrain temperature exceeding a preestablished threshold) and device 100Btriggers the delivery instructions to effect dispensation of a probefrom the probe delivery payload 344. In some embodiments, the locationis marked by device 100B with the probe identification (e.g., a serialnumber or other number assigned to the dispensed probe 1110) positioncoordinates at the time of the delivery. Inside of a bulk store 700, theposition may be realized by triangulation to beacons or other suitablemeans such as overhead video tracking. As part of the marking, the probeidentification and/or position may be stored in a memory of device 100Band or wirelessly transmitted by device 100B. In the same manner, one ormore additional probes 1110 may be placed and, in some embodiments, mayhave their probe identification and placed position coordinates marked(i.e., recorded by device 100B and/or wirelessly transmitted by device100B).

FIG. 15 illustrates robot delivery of a payload 1110, which may be aprobe, in a bulk store 700 when triggered by human engagement, accordingto various embodiments. For example, a human 1510 may utilize a remotecontroller 501 to send wireless signals 1520 to device 100B and receivesignals 1530 from device 100B. In FIG. 13 , device 100B is illustrateddelivering a probe 1110-1 upon receiving instructions from human 1510which are sent via remote controller 501 or by other suitable means. Insome embodiments, a signal 1530 may be wirelessly sent to remotecontroller 501, or elsewhere, with the identification and markedlocation of a dispensed probe 1110-1.

In some embodiments, a method of probe delivery within a bulk store 700,such as a grain bin, in response to direction by human remote controlmay include some of the following procedures. Probe 1110, or a set ofprobes, is loaded into the probe delivery payload 344 of device 100B.Device 100B is placed in the bulk store facility 700 (or on a pile ofgranular material 710). Granular material (e.g., grain) begins to beloaded into the bulk store 700 and/or onto the pile 710, in someembodiments. Device 100B performs a series of maneuvers on the surfaceof the granular material to position itself, where the maneuvers may beautomated, based on stored instructions (e.g., a pattern), based onhuman remote control, or some combination thereof. Device 100B ismaneuvered by human remote control to a location where it is desired toplace a probe 1110. Probe 1110 is placed in the specific location whenthe human remotely triggers device 100B to provide delivery instructionsto effect dispensation of a probe 1110 from the probe delivery payload344. In some embodiments, the location is marked by device 100B with theprobe identification (e.g., a serial number or other number assigned tothe dispensed probe 1110) position coordinates at the time of thedelivery. Inside of a bulk store 700, the position may be realized bytriangulation to beacons or other suitable means such as overhead videotracking. As part of the marking, the probe identification and/orposition may be stored in a memory of device 100B and or wirelesslytransmitted by device 100B. In the same manner, human remote instructionmay be used to control device 100B to maneuver and place one or moreadditional probes and may have their probe identification and placedposition coordinates marked (i.e., recorded by device 100B and/orwirelessly transmitted by device 100B).

Piled Grain Surface Management

FIGS. 16A-16D illustrate a flow diagram 1600 of an example method ofsurface management of piled grain, in accordance with variousembodiments. Procedures of the methods illustrated by flow diagram 1600of FIGS. 16A-16D will be described with reference to elements and/orcomponents of one or more of FIGS. 1-15 . It is appreciated that in someembodiments, the procedures may be performed in a different order thandescribed in a flow diagram, that some of the described procedures maynot be performed, and/or that one or more additional procedures to thosedescribed may be performed. Flow diagram 1600 includes some proceduresthat, in various embodiments, are carried out by one or more processors(e.g., host processor 102 or any processor of device 100 or a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled) under thecontrol of computer-readable and computer-executable instructions thatare stored on non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., hostmemory 103, other internal memory of device 100, or memory of a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled). It is furtherappreciated that one or more procedures described in flow diagram 1600may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware withfirmware and/or software.

For purposes of example only, the devices 100 and 100B (genericallyreferred to as “device 100” and/or “device 100”) is a robotic devicewhich utilizes augers (403) to move and maneuver with respect to piledgranular material, such as, but not limited to piled grain. Robot 100will be described as operating on or in relation to piled grain in abulk store, such as, but not limited to grain in a grain bin. In someembodiments, robot 100 is free of mechanical coupling with a structure(e.g., the bulk store) in which the piled grain is contained. Forexample, in some embodiments, there is no tether or safety harnesscoupling the robot 100 to the grain storage bin and it operatesautonomously or under wireless remote control. In some embodiments,robot 100 performs the method of flow diagram 1600 completelyautonomously. In some embodiments, robot 100 performs the method of flowdiagram 1600 semi-autonomously such as by measuring a slope of grain,sending the slope to an external computer system which then determines apattern for robot 100 to autonomously execute when traversing the piledgrain. In some embodiments, robot 100 performs the method of flowdiagram 1600 semi-autonomously such as by receiving a remotely measuredslope of grain, then autonomously determining a pattern for robot 100 toautonomously execute when traversing the piled grain.

With reference to FIG. 16A, at procedure 1610 of flow diagram 1600, invarious embodiments, a robot 100 which includes a processor 102, amemory 103, and an auger-based drive system (e.g., augers 403) receives,instructions to traverse a surface of piled grain in a bulk store. Insome embodiments, the instructions may be received wirelessly from aremotely located computer system (506, 605, 604, etc.) or wirelesslyfrom a remote controller 501 operated by a human (i.e., a human maydrive the robot 100 remotely). In some embodiments, the instructions maybe preprogrammed into robot 100. In some embodiments, the instructionsare for the robot 100 to follow a predetermined pattern of movement totraverse the surface of the piled grain.

With continued reference to FIG. 16A, at procedure 1620 of flow diagram1600, in various embodiments, a processor (e.g., processor 102) of robot100 controls movement of robot 100 according to the instructions. Viacommands to motor controllers 105 and/or drive motors 106 of anauger-based drive system, the robot 100 is controlled to traverse asurface of piled grain 710 in a bulk store 700. As a result of thetraversal, a crust layer of the surface is broken up by auger rotationof the auger-based drive system during the traversal. That is, theaugers churn the surface of the piled grain 710 to a depth of one toseveral inches (e.g., 3-12 inches), thus breaking up surface crust andcrust which may form a grain bridge over a void in the piled grain 710.Breaking the crust in this manner allows grain below the crust to drymore evenly and prevents spoilage that can result from the crust on thesurface. Additionally, breaking up crusts which are part of a grainbridge assists in the flow of the grain when the grain is removed fromthe bulk store and improves human safety, should a human need to enterand walk upon the surface of the piled grain 710. The traversal may beaccording to a pattern, many of which have been depicted and describedherein.

With continued reference to FIG. 16A, at procedure 1630 of flow diagram1600, in various embodiments, the processor directs, according to theinstructions, traversal by the robot of a sloped portion of the piledgrain to incite sediment gravity flow in the sloped portion of piledgrain by disruption of viscosity of the sloped portion of piled grainthrough agitation of the sloped portion of the piled grain by the augerrotation of the auger-based drive system, wherein the sediment gravityflow reduces a slope of the sloped portion. As described herein, thesediment gravity flow is, effectively, a purposely induced landslide.The sloped portion may be sought out by the robot 100, in someembodiments. In some embodiments, the traversal of one or more slopedportions is repeated to bring reduce the slope of the sloped portionmore toward level, which may be realized by bringing the slope below athreshold slope such between +/−5 degrees, between +/−4 degrees, +/−2degrees, or +/−1 degree. In some embodiments, the traversal of one ormore sloped portions is repeated to bring reduce the slope of the slopedportion more toward level by reducing the slope by a predeterminedamount such as 3 degrees, 5 degrees, 10 degrees, etc.

With reference to FIG. 16B, at procedure 1640 of flow diagram 1600, invarious embodiments, during traversal of a portion (e.g., portion 720)of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot 100 acts underinstruction of host processor 102 to capture a measurement of acharacteristic of the portion of piled grain. Some examplecharacteristics include, but are not limited to, capturing a measurementof: temperature, humidity, moisture, gas composition, electrostaticnature, and/or electrochemical nature. A measured characteristic mayalso comprise an optical and/or infrared image. The captured measurementof a characteristic can be stored within memory 103 or transmitted fromrobot 100. In some embodiments, the captured measurement of acharacteristic is paired with a location of robot 100 at the time ofcapture of the measurement. Such paired data can be used to create acharacteristic map of the piled grain which is traversed by robot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a base station (506, 605) that is/arecommunicatively coupled with robot 100. The base station (506, 605) islocated remotely from the robot and may be configured to communicatewith robot 100 over the Internet, via a wide-area network, via apeer-to-peer communication, or by other means. Via such communications,the base station (506, 605) may receive data collected by robot 100(including motion sensor data) collected by the robot during thetraversal of the portion of piled grain. Additionally, or alternatively,via such communications, the base station (506, 605) may relayinstructions to robot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a cloud-based 602 storage 603 and/or processing604 which is/are communicatively coupled with robot 100. The cloud-basedinfrastructure 602 may be utilized to process data, store data, makedata available to other devices (e.g., computer 605), and/or relayinformation or instructions from other devices (e.g., computer 605) torobot 100.

With reference to FIG. 16C, at procedure 1650 of flow diagram 1600, invarious embodiments, a temperature sensor 233, infrared sensor 236, orinfrared camera 108 of robot 100 is used to capture a temperaturemeasurement of a portion (e.g., portion 720) of piled grain during thetraversal of the portion of piled grain. In some embodiments, thecaptured measurement of a characteristic is paired with a location ofrobot 100 at the time of capture of the temperature measurement. Suchpaired data can be used to create a heat map of the piled grain which istraversed by robot 100. Additionally, temperature data can provide anoperator of the bulk store information about the conditions of storage,quality of grain, and/or identify areas for additional traversal toprevent crust formation and ensure air circulation.

With reference to FIG. 16D, at procedure 1660 of flow diagram 1600, invarious embodiments, a probe delivery payload 344 delivers a probe 1110onto a surface of the piled grain 710. As described herein, the probemay have a sensor which measures and reports conditions of the grain.The probe may be delivered during load-in of grain, and thus becomeburied in grain. This may facilitate, over time, positioning of probeswhich provide measurements at different levels within a column of piledgrain 710. Such delivery of probes may be based on preprogrammedpositions in a pattern, coordinate locations, human direction, orautomated response of robot 100B upon detecting a particularcharacteristic (e.g., grain temperature above a preset threshold).

Mapping Within a Bulk Store of Granular Material

FIGS. 17A-17D illustrate a flow diagram 1700 of an example method ofmapping within a bulk store (e.g., bulk store 700 or other bulk store)of granular material, in accordance with various embodiments. Proceduresof the methods illustrated by flow diagram 1700 of FIGS. 17A-17D will bedescribed with reference to elements and/or components of one or more ofFIGS. 1-15 . It is appreciated that in some embodiments, the proceduresmay be performed in a different order than described in a flow diagram,that some of the described procedures may not be performed, and/or thatone or more additional procedures to those described may be performed.Flow diagram 1700 includes some procedures that, in various embodiments,are carried out by one or more processors (e.g., host processor 102 orany processor of device 100 or a computer or system to which device 100is communicatively coupled) under the control of computer-readable andcomputer-executable instructions that are stored on non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media (e.g., host memory 103, other internalmemory of device 100, or memory of a computer or system to which device100 is communicatively coupled). It is further appreciated that one ormore procedures described in flow diagram 1700 may be implemented inhardware, or a combination of hardware with firmware and/or software.

For purposes of example only, the devices 100 and 100B (genericallyreferred to as “device 100” and/or “device 100”) is a robotic devicewhich utilizes augers (403) to move and maneuver with respect to piledgranular material, such as, but not limited to piled grain. Robot 100will be described as operating on or in relation to piled grain in abulk store, such as, but not limited to grain in a grain bin. In someembodiments, robot 100 is free of mechanical coupling with a structure(e.g., the bulk store) in which the piled grain is contained. Forexample, in some embodiments, there is no tether or safety harnesscoupling the robot 100 to the grain storage bin and it operatesautonomously or under wireless remote control. In some embodiments,robot 100 performs the method of flow diagram 1700 completelyautonomously. In some embodiments, robot 100 performs the method of flowdiagram 1700 semi-autonomously such as by measuring a slope of grain,sending the slope to an external computer system which then determines apattern for robot 100 to autonomously execute when traversing the piledgrain. In some embodiments, robot 100 performs the method of flowdiagram 1700 semi-autonomously such as by receiving a remotely measuredslope of grain, then autonomously determining a pattern for robot 100 toautonomously execute when traversing the piled grain.

With reference to FIG. 17A, at procedure 1710 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, a robot 100 which includes a processor 102, amemory 103, and an auger-based drive system (e.g., augers 403), therobot traverses, a first surface (e.g., 711B of FIG. 7G) of a piledgranular material 710 in a bulk store (e.g., bulk store 700) in amapping pattern (pattern 730, pattern 731, pattern 732, etc.). Numerouspatterns which may be used for mapping are depicted and describedherein, and reference is made to the patterns illustrated in FIGS. 7D,7E, and 9A-9C which may be used for mapping as well as for otherpurposes.

In some embodiment, the traversing comprises robot 100 traversing afirst surface of a piled granular material in a bulk store in themapping pattern and inciting sediment gravity flow of a sloped portionthat is traversed. That is, the traversal of the first surface of thepiled granular material 710 in this mapping pattern intentionallyincites sediment gravity flow in a sloped portion of the piled granularmaterial by disrupting the viscosity of the sloped portion throughagitation of the sloped portion of the piled granular material 710 byauger rotation of the auger-based drive system. Effectively, the augersdig several inches into the sloped surface and their agitation lowersthe viscosity of the piled granular material 710 in traversed portions.In this manner, the incited sediment gravity flow causes a smallavalanche/slide of the granular material in the sloped portion, which istraversed, resulting in a slightly less steep slope after the traversaland the resulting slide of granular material.

In some embodiments, the traversal of the first surface of the piledgranular material in the bulk store occurs while the bulk store is beingfilled with additional granular material atop the first surface. Forexample, and with reference to FIG. 7A, while granular material (e.g.,grain, etc.) is loaded into the top loading portal 701 of bulk store700, robot 100 may be actively traversing a surface 711 on piledgranular material 710 below. In some embodiments, the traversing mayalso take place while granular material (e.g., grain, etc.) is unloadedby a sump auger at the bottom of bulk store 700. In other embodiments,the traversing may take place between loading and unloading of granularmaterial (e.g., grain, etc.).

With reference to FIG. 17A, at procedure 1720 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, the robot (e.g., robot 100) records a plurality ofthree-dimensional locations of the robot 100 during the traversal in themapping pattern. The three-dimensional locations may be recordedtogether with readings from one or more sensors 120 which are measuredat one or more of the three-dimensional points. In this fashion, athree-dimensional location may be assigned to one or more measurements.For example, a plurality of three-dimensional location (and in someembodiments measurements too) may be recorded while traversing surface711C in pattern 930A of FIG. 9A.

With reference to FIG. 17A, at procedure 1730 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, the plurality of three-dimensional locations of therobot 100 are assembled into a three-dimensional surface map of thefirst surface of the piled granular material. In some embodiments, therobot may assemble the three-dimensional locations into thethree-dimensional surface map, while in other locations, thethree-dimensional locations are transmitted from the robot to anexternal computer system (e.g., 605, 506, etc.) which may perform thethree-dimensional surface map assembly. FIGS. 10A-10G provide someexamples of three-dimensional surface maps which may be assembled. Forexample, maps 1010A and 1010B may be assembled after traversal ofsurface 711G in pattern 930A. In some embodiments, the map(s) may beprovided for viewing by a human user on a display.

With reference to FIG. 17B, at procedure 1740 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, the method as recited in 1710-1730 furtherincludes: responsive to the bulk store being filled with additionalgranular material onto the first surface such that a second surface isformed, the robot 100 traverses the second surface in a second mappingpattern. For example, with reference to FIG. 9A, a first surface 711C istraversed with a first pattern 930A and then a second surface 711E istraversed with a second pattern 930B. It should be appreciated thatother patterns may be utilized for such traversals and that these arereferenced by way of example and not of limitation.

With reference to FIG. 17B, at procedure 1742 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, a second plurality of three-dimensional locationsof the robot 100 are recorded during the traversal in the second mappingpattern. With reference to FIG. 9B, in one embodiment, this comprisesrobot 100 recording a second plurality of three-dimensional locationswhile traversing surface 711E in pattern 930B.

With reference to FIG. 17B, at procedure 1744 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments the second plurality of three-dimensional locationsof the robot 100 are assembled into a second three-dimensional surfacemap of the second surface of the piled granular material. In someembodiments, the robot may assemble the three-dimensional locations intothe three-dimensional surface map, while in other locations, thethree-dimensional locations are transmitted from the robot to anexternal computer system (e.g., 605, 506, etc.) which may perform thethree-dimensional surface map assembly. For example, maps 1010C and1010D may be assembled after traversal in pattern 930B. The map(s) aredepicted with respect to a notional side sectional view of a bulk store.In some embodiments, the map(s) may be provided for viewing by a humanuser on a display.

With reference to FIG. 17C, at procedure 1750 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, the method as recited in 1710-1744 furtherincludes: capturing, by a sensor 120 of the robot 100, a measurement ofan environmental characteristic at each of a plurality of the pluralityof three-dimensional locations and the plurality of secondthree-dimensional locations to achieve a plurality of measurements. Insome embodiments, this may include capturing one of a temperaturemeasurement (e.g., with temperature sensor 233), a humidity measurement(e.g., with moisture sensor 234), an air flow measurement (e.g., with anair flow sensor), a barometric pressure measurement (e.g., with abarometric sensor 239), a carbon dioxide measurement (e.g., with acarbon dioxide sensor), an optical image (e.g., with optical sensor235), and an infrared image (e.g. with infrared sensor 236).

With reference to FIG. 17C, at procedure 1752 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments one or more measurements of the plurality ofmeasurements are assembled, based on their respective three-dimensionallocations of capture, into a three-dimensional map of the environmentalcharacteristics of the bulk store. The assembling may be accomplished byrobot 100 or by a computer (e.g., 506, 605, 602) to which robot 100transmits the plurality of measurements. FIG. 10D illustrates athree-dimensional map 1010D with a second plurality of measurementsdepicted. The map is depicted with respect to a notional side sectionalview of a bulk store. In some embodiments, the map may be provided forviewing by a user on a display.

With reference to FIG. 17D, at procedure 1760 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, the method as recited in 1710-1730 furtherincludes: capture, by a sensor 120 of the robot 100, a first measurementof an environmental characteristic at each of a plurality of thethree-dimensional locations to achieve a plurality of measurements. Insome embodiments, this may include capturing one of a temperaturemeasurement, a humidity measurement, an air flow measurement, abarometric pressure measurement, a carbon dioxide measurement, anoptical image, and an infrared image. In some embodiments, thiscomprises capturing one of a temperature measurement and a humiditymeasurement, either and both of which can be used to assess condition ofgrain when the piled granular material is grain.

With reference to FIG. 17D, at procedure 1762 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments one or more measurements of the plurality ofmeasurements are assembled, based on their respective three-dimensionallocations of capture, into a three-dimensional map of the environmentalcharacteristics of the bulk store. The assembling may be accomplished byrobot 100 or by a computer (e.g., 506, 605, 602) to which robot 100transmits the plurality of measurements. FIG. 10B illustrates athree-dimensional map 1010B with a first plurality of measurements 1011depicted. The map 1010B is depicted with respect to a side sectionalview of a bulk store. In some embodiments, the map may be provided forviewing by a user on a display.

With reference to FIG. 17E, at procedure 1770 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments, the method as recited in 1762 further includes:capture, by a second sensor 120 of the robot 100, a second measurementof a second environmental characteristic at each of a second pluralityof the three-dimensional locations to achieve a plurality of secondmeasurements. Where the sensor was one of a temperature sensor 233 and amoisture sensor 234, in some embodiments the second sensor is the otherof those two. For example, in an embodiment where the first sensormeasures one of temperature and humidity, the second sensor measures theother of temperature and humidity that was not measured by the sensor.

With reference to FIG. 17E, at procedure 1772 of flow diagram 1700, invarious embodiments one or more measurements of the plurality of secondmeasurements are assembled, based on their respective three-dimensionallocations of capture, into a three-dimensional map of the environmentalcharacteristics of the bulk store. The assembling may be accomplished byrobot 100 or by a computer (e.g., 506, 605, 602) to which robot 100transmits the plurality of measurements. FIG. 10B illustrates athree-dimensional map 1010B with a first plurality of measurements 1011and a second plurality of measurements 1012 depicted. The map isdepicted with respect to a notional side sectional view of a bulk store.In some embodiments, the map may be provided for viewing by a user on adisplay.

Section 3 Grain Bin and Bulk Store Management

A device 100 may operate as an assistant in the management of grain thatis stored in a bulk store. By way of example, and not of limitation, thegrain may be stored within a grain bin and the device 100 may operate toassist with management a grain bin: prior to load-in of grain, duringload-in of grain, after load-in of grain, during long term storage ofgrain, during extraction of grain, and/or during final clean-out ofgrain from a bin. The management may be a primary role of device 100 oras an extension of a device 100 traversing the surface of piled granularmaterial for leveling, mapping, or other reasons. The device 100 maysimilarly assist with management of grain stored in other bulk stores,many types of which have been described herein.

FIGS. 18A-18N illustrate aspects of grain bin management via operationof device 100 in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 18A illustrates a side elevational view of a grain bin 1800 whichis very similar to grain bin 700 of FIG. 7 except for the inclusion of aroof vent 1802 and a fan 1803. Bin 1800 includes a top-loading portal1801 through which grain may be loaded via an auger or other graintransport means. Bin 1800 also includes a side door 1809 which may beopened for access and or manual cleanout/manipulation of grain withinbin 1800. Dotted section lines indicate the direction of a sidesectional view C-C.

FIG. 18B shows the side section view C-C of grain bin 1800 prior to theloading of any grain. Robotic device 100 is on floor 1804, and floor1804 includes a drain type hole which facilitates funneling of the grainto an unloading auger 1806 during load out of the grain. Device 100 maydetermine an elevation of floor 1804 prior to the loading of any grain,in other embodiments, this elevation may be supplied as an input todevice 100 or any computer system (e.g., 604, 605, 506, etc.) whichoperates with data collected by device 100.

FIG. 18C shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 during an initialload of grain 1810A being loaded in by auger 1807. Also illustrated isan external unloading auger 1808 coupled with auger 1806, neither ofwhich is in operation. During load-in of grain 1810A, device 100traverses surface sloped surface 1811A and landing zone 1851 to disperseBGFM (broken grain and foreign material) which would normally pileup/accumulate in the center of bin 1800 in the landing zone 1851 of thestream of grain 1810A falling from the top-loading portal 1801. Thelanding zone is the area beneath stream of grain 1810A where it landsafter falling from an auger (e.g., auger 1807) which is used forload-in. In a round grain bin, like bin 1800, the landing zone portionof the pile of grain 1810A being loaded-in is typically in the center ofthe bin on the surface 1811A of the grain 1810A as the grain piles up.BGFM is sometimes referred to as “fines” or “fines material.” In variousembodiments, the traversing may be one or more of: random, manuallycontrolled by a remote operator, following a predetermined pattern,following a set of rules or requirements with respect to grain slope orother measured environmental characteristics, and/or ad-hoc/as-requiredunder dynamic control of device 100. The traversing may take device 100through the stream of grain 1810A falling from top-loading portal 1801into landing zone 1851. When a pattern or patterns is/are utilized, theymay be similar to any of the patterns previously disclosed herein orother patterns may be used. In some embodiments, a grid pattern is used,a spiral pattern is used, a crossing pattern is used, an ad hoc patternis used, etc. BGFM differs by grain type but is smaller than an unbrokenpiece of the grain being stored (e.g., an unbroken kernel of corn orunbroken soybean). For example, for corn, the USDA defines BGFM as “Allmatter that passes readily through a 12/64-inch round hole sieve and allmatter other than corn that remains in the sieved sample after sieving.”Similar definitions exist for other cereal grains to indicate that BGFMis the less-than-ideal material that is smaller than the grain beingstored, which often limits airflow piled stored grain, which may accreteinto a larger mass, which encourages faster deterioration of the piledstored grain, and/or which often causes augers to become plugged duringextraction if it accretes into a larger mass. Accretion is a particularproblem in a bin with a central landing zone that extracts graincentrally from the bottom of the bin, as undispersed BGFM conventionallyland in the center and form a column which contains a largeconcentration of BGFM. Conventionally, this column can accrete intolarge chunks or even a somewhat cylindrical plug in the center zonewhere grain flows downward during extraction. Dispersal of the BGFM by adevice 100, as described herein, reduces or eliminates the formation ofa column and the large concentrations which can accrete into chunks orplugs.

The dispersal of BGFM from the landing zone portion 1851 of the pile ofgrain is effected or carried out in part by the rotation of the augers403 of the auger-based drive system of robot 100. That is, the augers403 of the auger-based drive system mix, move and disperse grain andBGFM as they rotate to propel robot 100 across and through a pile ofgrain. In addition to dispersing BGFM, device 100 operates to level thepile of grain as it is being loaded into bin 1800. This leveling isaccomplished via the purposeful disruption of viscosity by the agitationof augers 403 as they rotate during traversal of sloped portions of thepile of grain. This disruption of viscosity incites sediment gravityflow in the sloped portion, causing grain to slide away from the centerlanding zone and further disperse the BGFM away from landing zone 1851.By repeatedly traversing the landing zone 1851 during load-in andrepeatedly inciting sediment gravity flow during of the sloped surface1811A the load-in of load 1810A, BGFM is continuously dispersed duringload-in without building up into a roughly vertical column or otherheavy concentration either in the loading zone or elsewhere. Preventionsof columnar and other buildups of BGFM through such dispersal reduce oreliminate the ability of the BGFM to accrete/harden into chunks or aplug which may clog a flow of grain or an auger during later extractionoperations. Additionally, preventions of columnar and other buildups ofBGFM through such dispersal increase the uniformity of airflowthroughout the pile of grain in a bulk store, which reduces crustformation, reduces accretion of BGFM, reduces hotspot formation, andimproves uniformity of grain drying throughout the pile of grain in thebulk store.

In FIG. 18C, detail 1813A illustrates some grain 1815 (whole cornkernels in this example) and BGFM (grain dust/particles 1817 shown assmall black dots, broken grain 1818, and chaff pieces 1819 such as partsof corn husks) in landing zone 1851 prior to dispersal operations byrobot 100.

FIG. 18D shows side section view C-C of bin 1800 with device 100operating on piled grain 1810A to further level surface 1811A to achievesubstantially level surface 1811A′, according to various embodiments. Byleveling the surface 1811A′, the first load of grain 1810A is at afairly uniform depth which may be mapped by device 100 to determine itselevation above floor 1804. The volume and or number of bushels of loadof grain 1810A may be determined by this mapping in the mannerpreviously described. Additionally, grain quality metrics may bemeasured/mapped such as grain moisture content and/or temperature ofgrain on surface 1811A′. In some embodiments, device 100 may captureother data such as images of grain so that shell cracking and othervisual characteristics of the grain 1810A′ may be observed/stored.

In FIG. 18D, detail 1813B is shown in a similar area of the landing zone1851′ as was depicted in detail 1813A, the contrast between the detailviews shows an example of how BGFM in the form grain dust/particles1817, broken grain 1818, and chaff pieces 1819 is significantlydiminished in landing zone 1851′ by the dispersal activities of robot100.

FIG. 18E shows a side section view C-C bin 1800 during a second load ofgrain 1810B being loaded in, by auger 1807, atop surface 1811A′. Duringload-in of grain 1810B, device 100 traverses surface 1811B and landingzone 1852 to disperse BGFM which would normally pile up/accumulate inthe middle of bin 1800 in the landing zone 1852 of the stream of grain1810B falling from the top-loading portal 1801. In various embodiments,the traversing may be one or more of: random, manually controlled by aremote operator, following a predetermined pattern, following a set ofrules or requirements with respect to grain slope or other measuredenvironmental characteristics, and/or ad-hoc/as-required under dynamiccontrol of device 100. The traversing may take device 100 through thestream of grain 1810B falling from top-loading portal 1801. When apattern or patterns is/are utilized, they may be similar to any of thepatterns previously disclosed herein or other patterns may be used.

FIG. 18F shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 with device 100operating on piled grain 1810B to further level surface 1811B to achievesubstantially level surface 1811B′. By leveling surface 1811B′, thesecond load of grain 1810B is at a fairly uniform depth which may bemapped by device 100 to determine its elevation above surface 1811A′and/or floor 1804. The volume and or number of bushels of load of grain1810B or the total of loads 1810A+1810B may be determined by thismapping in the manner previously described. Additionally, grain qualitymetrics may be measured/mapped such as grain moisture content and/ortemperature of grain on surface 1811B′. In some embodiments, device 100may capture other data such as images of grain so that shell crackingand other visual characteristics of the grain 1810B′ may beobserved/stored.

FIG. 18G shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 during a third loadof grain 1810C being loaded in by auger 1807, atop surface 1811B′.During load-in of grain 1810C, device 100 traverses surface 1811C andlanding zone 1853 to disperse BGFM which would normally pileup/accumulate in the middle of bin 1800 in the landing zone 1853 of thestream of grain 1810C falling from the top-loading portal 1801. Invarious embodiments, the traversing may be one or more of: random,manually controlled by a remote operator, following a predeterminedpattern, following a set of rules or requirements with respect to grainslope or other measured environmental characteristics, and/orad-hoc/as-required under dynamic control of device 100. The traversingmay take device 100 through the stream of grain 1810C falling fromtop-loading portal 1801. When a pattern or patterns is/are utilized,they may be similar to any of the patterns previously disclosed hereinor other patterns may be used.

FIG. 18H shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 with device 100operating on piled grain 1810C to further level surface 1811C to achievesubstantially level surface 1811C′. By leveling the surface 1811C′, thesecond load of grain 1810C is at a fairly uniform depth which may bemapped by device 100 to determine its elevation above surface 1811B′and/or floor 1804. The volume and or number of bushels of load of grain1810C or the total of loads 1810A+1810B+1810C may be determined by thismapping in the manner previously described. Additionally, grain qualitymetrics may be measured/mapped such as grain moisture content and/ortemperature of grain on surface 1811C′. In some embodiments, device 100may capture other data such as images of grain so that shell crackingand other visual characteristics of the grain 1810C′ may beobserved/stored.

In some embodiments, if grain 1810C is the final load of grain loadedinto grain bin 1800, device 100 may prepare it for long term storage byaerating surface 1811C′ via a maintenance traversal pattern whichagitates surface 1811C′ with the augers of device 100. Such a patternmay be traversed periodically (e.g., once a day, twice per day, etc.) toprevent crust formation and thus increase air flow uniformity. Long termstorage may be storage for weeks but is typically months or longer.Additionally, traversal may be performed to periodically inspect grain1810C. As previously indicated mapping and/or sensing may occur duringany traversal, and when problem areas such as hot spots are noted device100 may traverse these problem areas to disperse hot grain or spray thehot grain with a cooling agent (e.g., compressed air, nitrogen, CO2,water, etc.). Similarly, when other problems areas are noted by device100 during traversal, the location(s) may be mapped and stored so thatdevice 100 can take other remedial action (e.g., spraying of afungicide) with respect to the problem area. Via mapping and sensingduring periodic traversal, changes may be noted over time (e.g., changesin temperature, moisture, airflow, etc.) and a variety of undesiredchanges may be addressed via traversal and/or through an employment of apayload carried by device 100. In this manner, grain which may havecrusted or spoiled on the top surface 1811C′ is preserved for sale, thusincreasing grain in the food supply, and increasing profit to the storerof the grain due to loss reduction.

Prior to unloading grain 1810 from bin 1800, device 100 may run apre-extraction pattern to ensure that any crust on surface 1811C′ isbroken up and any grain bridges that may have formed are broken up.

FIG. 18I shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 illustrating areconditioning of stored grain in bin 1800, according to variousembodiments. In some embodiments, prior to extraction, grain may bere-conditioned to a higher moisture content using device 100. Forexample, soybeans may be advantageously taken to market at a highermoisture content than they may be stored (long term storage at theoptimal market moisture content may encourage mold). Accordingly, whenthis is the case, the fan 1803 may be used to draw moist air 1820 inthrough roof vent 1802 during a suitably humid day. Normally such actionwould cause crust formation on surface 1811C′. However, by traversingsurface 1811C′ in a pattern to aerate the top several inches of grain1810C during the intake of moist air for a specified and suitable periodof time a new surface 1811C″ is achieved which has a raised moisturecontent (having been slightly rehydrated along with the top severalinches of grain 1810C). This rehydrated grain may then be extracted andtaken to market where it will be sold at a higher test weight and formore money than it would have garnered absent the rehydration. A processfor rehydrating grain to a higher test weight prior to extraction mayincluded engaging a fan 1803 to pull humid air onto the surface of apile of stored grain; coordinating with robot 100 to traverse a surfaceof the pile of grain before, during, and or after the fan is engaged topull in the humid air; and traversing the rehydrated grain by the robot100 to assist with extraction of a rehydrated layer of the grain; andrepeating the process until a desired volume of grain has beenrehydrated and extracted.

FIG. 18J shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 during extraction ofa portion of stored grain 1810C from bin 1800, according to variousembodiments. During extraction, extraction/sump auger 1806 pulls graindownward in the center of bin 1800 like of funnel or venturi fromsurface 1811C″ and external unloading auger 1808 expels the grain 1810Csuch as into a rail car or semi-trailer. During this extraction device100 performs an extraction and/or leveling pattern to achieve surface1811C′″ and to pull grain away from the walls of bin 1800 by use of itsaugers and/or sediment gravity flow. In this manner grain is pulled fromthe outer edges inward to the center of bin 1800 through assistance ofdevice 100, thus keeping a consistent mixture of grain and BGFM (ratherthan a slug of mostly BGFM which could clog auger 1806). Such extractionpatterns (which may be similar to or different from patterns disclosedherein) may be used whether or not reconditioning of grain has beenaccomplished. In this manner, grain may be unloaded fairly consistentlyin the reverse order from its loading (last in, first out). By mappingwhile running extraction patterns, extraction can be stopped when anelevation associated with surface 1811B′ is reached. Sensing for grainmoisture while device 100 traverses during extraction allows for adetermination of when the reconditioned grain of surface 1811C″ has beextracted, thus allowing extraction to be paused and reconditioning tobe recommenced.

FIG. 18K shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 illustrating a secondincremental reconditioning of stored grain in bin 1800, according tovarious embodiments. Fan 1803 is again used to draw moist air 1820 inthrough roof vent 1802 during a suitably humid day. Device 100 traversessurface 1811C′ (of FIG. 18J) in a pattern to aerate the top severalinches of grain 1810C during the intake of moist air for a specified andsuitable period of time a new surface 1811C″ is achieved which has araised moisture content (having been slightly rehydrated along with thetop several inches of grain 1810C). As before, this rehydrated grain maythen be extracted and taken to market where it will be sold at a highertest weight and for more money than it would have garnered absent therehydration. Reconditioning may be continued in this incrementalfashion.

FIG. 18L shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 during extraction ofa portion of stored grain 1810C from bin 1800, according to variousembodiments. During extraction, extraction/sump auger 1806 pulls graindownward in the center of bin 1800 like a funnel or venturi from surface1811C″ and external unloading auger 1808 expels the grain 1810C such asinto a rail car or semi-trailer. During this extraction device 100performs an extraction and/or leveling pattern to achieve surface1811C′″″ and to pull grain away from the walls of bin 1800 and towardthe center by use of its augers and/or sediment gravity flow. In thismanner grain is pulled from the outer edges inward to the center of bin1800 through assistance of device 100, thus keeping a consistent mixtureof grain and BGFM (rather than a slug of mostly BGFM which could clogauger 1806). Such extraction patterns (which may be similar to ordifferent from patterns disclosed herein) may be used whether or notreconditioning of grain has been accomplished. In this manner, grain maybe unloaded fairly consistently in the reverse order from its loading(i.e., last in, first out). By mapping while running extractionpatterns, extraction can be stopped when an elevation associated withsurface 1811B′ is reached. Sensing for grain moisture while device 100traverses during extraction allows for a determination of when thereconditioned grain of surface 1811C″″ has be extracted, thus allowingextraction to be paused and reconditioning to be recommenced.

After extracting all or most of grain 1810C, device 100 can prepare theremaining grain 1810 for long term storage and can perform maintenance,aeration, and/or inspections during the storage in the manner previouslydescribed.

Final Extraction and Clean-Out

FIG. 18M shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 during extraction ofa portion of stored grain 1810C from bin 1800, according to variousembodiments. After most of the grain 1810 has been extracted from grainbin 1800, device 100 may be utilized to assist in extracting the lastbits of grain during a clean-out of grain bin 1800. For example, aclean-out pattern may be run by device 100 to level the remaining grainto a uniform depth (e.g., two feet) within bin 1800. Additionally, oralternatively, a pushing pattern may be run across/through remaininggrain 1810A with device 100 to push grain, that will not naturally flow,toward the center sump auger 1806.

If being used, a sweep auger may draw down a small section of theremaining grain 1810A before device 100 runs a sweep auger patternparallel and/or perpendicular to the sweeping auger to use the augers304 of device 100 and/or sediment gravity flow to push the remaininggrain toward the sweep auger (so that a human does not have to shovelgrain near the operating sweep auger).

If sweep auger is not being used, device 100 may run a low depthoperation pattern to move grain to centrally located intake for thecenter auger 1806 or to intakes for secondary sump augers.

In some embodiments, device 100 may use optional accessories, which mayinclude one or more of a fixed or rotating sweeping broom, a blower, andor a vacuum to assist in the final sweep tasks when cleaning out grainbin 1800.

FIG. 18N shows a side section view C-C of bin 1800 during extraction ofa portion of stored grain 1810D from bin 1800, according to variousembodiments. Grain 1810D may be a mixture of various loads of grain 1810(e.g., grain 1810A, grain 1810B, and/or grain 1810C). After most of thegrain 1810D has been extracted from grain bin 1800, central auger 1806has become non-functional and side door 1809 (not visible in this view)has been opened so that bin 1800 can be unloaded manually, for example,by hand (with shovels), by use of a portable auger, a large vacuum hoseof an industrial grain vacuum, and/or by a machine such as a skid-steeror front-end loader if bin 1800 is large enough. Such manual unloadingtechniques often result in one side of the bin being unloaded first.Conventionally, this can leave grain piled against one side but not theopposing side of bin 1800 which creates an asymmetric load on thevertical wall structure of bin 1800. This is represented by the piledgrain 1810D with surface 1811D, where the right side of bin 1800 (asviewed) has a heavy load leaning on it and the opposite side (left sideas viewed) has little or no load on it (no load as depicted). Suchasymmetric loading of bin 1800 can cause structural damage which reducesthe lifespan of the bin 1800 or in extreme instances causes it tocollapse. In some embodiments, robot 100 can traverse a portion of apile of grain which is placing an asymmetric load on a wall of the flatstorage (as shown with robot 100 of surface 1811D) and lower the slopeof the pile in this portion so the asymmetric load is reduced below athreshold (e.g., an asymmetric load up to ten feet high against a wallmay be fine, but twenty feet is not). The pile of grain 1810D withsurface 1811D′ (shown by the dashed line) illustrates lowering of theheight of the asymmetric load. Additionally, or alternatively, robot 100can traverse a pile of grain near an extraction point (e.g., near door1809 or near the input of a portable auger or vacuum hose nozzle) todirect or push grain from the pile toward the extraction point. This canreduce the frequency with which a portable auger or vacuum hose nozzleneeds to be moved and/or it can reduce the distance required to betraveled by a front-end loader or skid loader.

Other Bin or Bulk Store Shapes

FIGS. 19A-19E illustrate a rectangular bin/building 1900 as opposed tothe cylindrical bins illustrated in FIGS. 18A-18N. A rectangular grainbin of this floor shape is sometimes referred to as “flat storage.” Itshould be appreciated that flat storage may take other shapes besidesrectangular. Such a flat storage 1900 may have a central under-floorauger and/or sump augers for unloading, but often does not include suchfeatures.

FIG. 19A is a right side elevational view of a rectangular grain bin1900, according to various embodiments. Although this bin is illustratedwith a shorter length, similar bins may span hundreds of meters inlength. Dotted section lines indicate the direction of a side sectionalview E-E. Dotted circle 1905 shows a corner of flat storage 1900, theinternal portion of which is largely visible in side sectional view E-E.

FIG. 19B is a front elevational view of rectangular bin 1900, accordingto various embodiments. Although this bin is illustrated with a shorterlength, similar bins may span hundreds of meters in length. Dottedsection lines indicate the direction of a side sectional view D-D.

FIG. 19C shows the side section view D-D of grain bin 1900 with a loadof piled grain 1910 present within. Robotic device 100 is shownoperating on the surface 1911 of the grain 1910. It should beappreciated that many or all of the techniques illustrated and describedin conjunction with FIGS. 18A-18N can be similarly employed within grainbins of different shapes such as rectangular grain bin 1900. Themultiple peaks of surface 1911 may be due to multiple piles of grainbeing deposited side-by-side to form grain pile 1910. Accordingly,leveling patterns performed by device 100 on surface 1911 can distributegrain more evenly by smoothing the multiple peaks and performingleveling in general, and thus increase the effective storage capacity ofrectangular grain bin 1900.

FIG. 19D shows the side section view E-E of grain bin 1900 with a loadof piled grain 1910 present within. Robotic device 100 is shownoperating on the surface 1912 of the grain 1910. As illustrated, aproblem that can occur when loading a flat storage is the difficulty ingetting grain to fill in the sides and particularly the corners such ascorner 1905, as the peak of the pile may reach to near a ceiling mountedload-in point without the overall pile progressing into the corners orvery far up the sides of the bulk store. For example, as depicted thepeak of a pile of grain 1910 may be near the ceiling of a flat storagebulk store 1900 while edges of the pile of grain 1910 are not near thetops of side wall of the bulk store. In the past, teams of workerswalked on the surface 1912 of grain 1910 and raked it to the sides andinto the corners (e.g., corner 1905) so that more grain could then beloaded and so that the interior volume of the flat storage was morefully utilized. This practice was called “walking down” the grain.However, walking down the grain is exceptionally dangerous and becauseof this is now illegal in many regions of the world. As illustrated,robot 100 may traverse surface 1912 of the pile of grain 1910 utilizingslope reduction and leveling techniques/patterns, which were previouslydescribed herein. In this manner, in specific locations (e.g., corners,sides, and other desired areas of a flat storage), robot 100 performs arobotic walk down of the grain 1910 which does not utilize or endangerhumans. The dashed line of surface 1912′ of grain 1910 represents theshape of the pile of grain after the robotic walk down. As can be seen,the peak from surface 1912 has been lowered and some of the empty volumeon the sides and in particular in the corners of flat storage 1900 hasbeen filled. For example, prior to the walk down, the surface 1912 ofgrain 1910 only reach a height 1906 (e.g., 2 feet) relative to thebottom of flat storage 1900. However, after the robotic walk down,corners and sides are filled to a height 1907 (e.g., 20 feet), thusfilling a great deal of unutilized empty space in the corners and alongthe sides of flat storage 1900 and enabling a greater volume of grain1910 to be loaded-in than without the robotic walk down. It should beappreciated that these techniques can similarly be employed on othergranular material stored in a flat storage bulk store and/or withrespect to any bulk store with walls. It should be appreciated that thisrobotic walking down of grain is one of many facets of managing storedgrain and managing a bulk store where the grain is stored.

FIG. 19E shows the side section view E-E of grain bin 1900 with a loadof piled grain 1910 present within. Robotic device 100 is shownoperating on the surface 1913 of the grain 1910. In some circumstances aflat storage bulk store may be unloaded by other means rather than acentral floor auger. For example, a large flat storage may be unloadedby a portable auger, a large vacuum hose of an industrial grain vacuum,a front-end loader, or a skid steer machine. This may be the routinemanner of unloading, may be done in addition to the use an under-floorauger, and/or may be a workaround when an under-floor auger isnon-functional. Unloading in such manners, rather than centrally with anunder-floor auger, can create asymmetric loads on the vertical sides ofthe flat storage 1900 where one side wall has a heavy load leaning on itand the one or more other side walls have little or no grain inducedload. Pile 1910 with surface 1913 illustrates such an asymmetric loadbeing place on the right side wall (as viewed) of flat storage 1900 withgrain 1910 at a height 1916 (e.g., 50 feet) relative to the floor offlat store 1900 and the opposite/left side wall (as viewed) having nograin load being placed on it. Such asymmetric loading of flat storage1900 can cause structural damage which reduces the lifespan of thebuilding or in extreme instances causes it to collapse. In someembodiments, robot 100 can traverse a portion of the surface 1913 of thepile of grain 1910 which is placing an asymmetric load on a wall of theflat storage 1900 and lower the slope of the pile in this portion so theasymmetric load is reduced below a threshold height 1917 (e.g., 18feet). For example, an asymmetric load below 18 feet higher relative toan opposing wall's load may be fine, but above that may be eitherdangerous to humans or the building structure. As can be seen, theheight of surface 1913 has been lowered by the robotic walk downperformed by robot 100. For example, prior to the walk down of theasymmetric load, the surface 1913 of grain 1910 a height 1916 (e.g., 50feet) relative to the bottom of flat storage 1900. However, after thewalk down surface 1913′ shows that a lowered height 1918 (e.g., 15 feet)against the right side wall has been achieved. This lowered height 1918is below the threshold height 1917 (e.g., 18 feet) of asymmetry. Inaddition to reducing asymmetric structural stress, safety may beimproved by utilizing the robot 100 to reduce the height of anasymmetric portion of the pile of grain to below a height associatedwith avalanche and/or entrapment risk so there is less of a likelihoodthat a person or machine will get engulfed because of the steep slopeand high peaks collapsing or sluffing. It should be appreciated thatthese techniques can similarly be employed on other granular materialstored in a flat storage bulk store and/or with respect to any bulkstore with walls.

Additionally, or alternatively, robot 100 can similarly traverse a pileof grain near an extraction point to direct, push, or robotically walkdown grain from the pile toward the extraction point. This can reducethe frequency with which a portable auger or vacuum hose needs to bemoved and/or it can reduce the distance required to be traveled by afront-end loader or skid loader.

Example Methods of Grain Bin Management

FIGS. 20A-20F illustrate a flow diagram 2000 of an example method ofgrain bin management during load-in, in accordance with variousembodiments. Procedures of the methods illustrated by flow diagram 2000of FIGS. 20A-20F will be described with reference to elements and/orcomponents of one or more of FIGS. 1-19E. It is appreciated that in someembodiments, the procedures may be performed in a different order thandescribed in a flow diagram, that some of the described procedures maynot be performed, and/or that one or more additional procedures to thosedescribed may be performed. Flow diagram 2000 includes some proceduresthat, in various embodiments, are carried out by one or more processors(e.g., host processor 102 or any processor of device 100 or a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled) under thecontrol of computer-readable and computer-executable instructions thatare stored on non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., hostmemory 103, other internal memory of device 100, or memory of a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled). It is furtherappreciated that one or more procedures described in flow diagram 2000may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware withfirmware and/or software.

For purposes of example only, the devices 100 and 100B (genericallyreferred to as “device 100” and/or “device 100”) is a robotic devicewhich utilizes augers (403) to move and maneuver with respect to piledgranular material, such as, but not limited to piled grain. The augers403 also agitate and disperse the piled grain and BGFM in the piledgrain as a by-product of traversing the piled grain. Robot 100 will bedescribed as operating on or in relation to piled grain in a bulk store,such as, but not limited to grain in a grain bin. In some embodiments,robot 100 is free of mechanical coupling with a structure (e.g., thebulk store) in which the piled grain is contained.

With reference to FIG. 20A, at procedure 2010 of flow diagram 2000, invarious embodiments, a robot 100 which includes a processor 102, amemory 103, and an auger-based drive system (which includes, forexample, drive motors 106 and augers 403) receives, instructions totraverse a surface of piled grain in a bulk store. In some embodiments,the instructions are for robot 100 to follow a pattern of movement totraverse the surface of the piled grain. The pattern may be a gridpattern, a spiral pattern, a crossing pattern, or any of the patternsdescribed herein, among others. The pattern may be predetermined, insome embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the instructions maybe preprogrammed into robot 100 (e.g., stored in memory 103). In someembodiments, the instructions may be remote control instructions. Forexample, remote control instructions may be received wirelessly from aremotely located computer system (506, 605, 604, etc.) or wirelesslyfrom a remote controller 501 operated by a human (i.e., a human maydrive the robot 100 remotely). In some embodiments, the pattern isdetermined ad hoc by robot 100 in an autonomous or semi-autonomousfashion as has been described herein.

With continued reference to FIG. 20A, at procedure 2020 of flow diagram2000, in various embodiments, a processor (e.g., processor 102) of robot100 controls movement of robot 100 according to the instructions. Viacommands to motor controllers 105 and/or drive motors 106 of theauger-based drive system of robot 100, robot 100 is controlled relativeto the grain in the grain bin, such as to traverse a surface of piledgrain in the grain bin during load-in of the grain.

With continued reference to FIG. 20A, at procedure 2030 of flow diagram2000, the processor directs traversal, by the robot 100, of a landingzone portion of a surface of a pile of the grain during load-in of thegrain to disperse broken grain and foreign material away from thelanding zone portion. In response to the direction, the robot performsthe traversal of the landing zone. In a round grain bin, such grain bin1800 of FIG. 18C, the landing zone portion is located in a center (ofthe circular circumference) of the grain bin where the grain lands as itis augured into the grain bin during load-in. In other embodiments, thelanding zone portion is under the area where grain is falling onto thepile, and this area may not be in the center of the bin or bulk store.The dispersal is effected or carried out in part by rotation of augersof the auger-based drive system. For example, with reference to FIGS.18C, 18E, and 18G and their respective description, this can compriserobot 100 traversing a landing zone portion such as 1851, 1852, and/or1853 during load-in to disperse the BGFM that would otherwise accumulatein the landing zone beneath the stream of grain falling from auger 1807during the respective load-ins.

With reference to FIG. 20B, at procedure 2040 of flow diagram 2000, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2010-2030 may furthercomprise, the processor (e.g., processor 102) directing additionaltraversal by the robot 100 of a sloped portion of the pile of grain(e.g., the sloped portion of surface 1811A below landing zone 1851 inFIG. 18C) to incite sediment gravity flow in the sloped portion of thepile of grain by disruption of viscosity of the sloped portion of thepile of grain through agitation of the sloped portion of the pile ofgrain by the auger rotation of the auger-based drive system. Underdirection by the processor, the robot performs this additionaltraversal. The additional traversal may be according to a pattern whichmay be a grid pattern, a spiral pattern, a crossing pattern, or any ofthe patterns described herein, among others. The sloped portion beingreferred to is outside and typically below the landing zone portion. Thesediment gravity flow reduces a slope of the sloped portion and of thelanding zone portion and further disperses the broken grain and foreignmaterial away from the landing zone portion. As described herein, thesediment gravity flow is, effectively, a purposely induced landslide.The sloped portion may be sought out by the robot 100, in someembodiments. In some embodiments, the traversal of one or more slopedportions and the landing zone portion is repeated to bring reduce theslope of the sloped portion more toward level, which may be realized bybringing the slope below a threshold slope such between +/−5 degrees,between +/−4 degrees, +/−2 degrees, or +/−1 degree. In some embodiments,the traversal of one or more sloped portions is repeated to bring reducethe slope of the sloped portion more toward level by reducing the slopeby a predetermined amount such as 3 degrees, 5 degrees, 10 degrees, etc.

With reference to FIG. 20C, at procedure 2050 of flow diagram 2000, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2010-2030 may furthercomprise, during traversal of a landing zone portion (e.g., portion 1851in FIG. 18C) of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot 100acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capture ameasurement of a characteristic of the landing zone portion of piledgrain. Some example characteristics include, but are not limited to,capturing a measurement of: temperature, humidity, moisture, gascomposition, electrostatic nature, and/or electrochemical nature. Ameasured characteristic may also comprise an optical and/or infraredimage. The captured measurement of a characteristic can be stored withinmemory 103 or transmitted from robot 100. In some embodiments, thecaptured measurement of a characteristic is paired with a location ofrobot 100 at the time of capture of the measurement. Such paired datacan be used to create a characteristic map of the piled grain which istraversed by robot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a base station (506, 605) that is/arecommunicatively coupled with robot 100. The base station (506, 605) islocated remotely from the robot and may be configured to communicatewith robot 100 over the Internet, via a wide-area network, via apeer-to-peer communication, or by other means. Via such communications,the base station (506, 605) may receive data collected by robot 100(including motion sensor data) collected by the robot during thetraversal of the portion of piled grain. Additionally, or alternatively,via such communications, the base station (506, 605) may relayinstructions to robot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a cloud-based 602 storage 603 and/or processing604 which is/are communicatively coupled with robot 100. The cloud-basedinfrastructure 602 may be utilized to process data, store data, makedata available to other devices (e.g., computer 605), and/or relayinformation or instructions from other devices (e.g., computer 605) torobot 100.

With reference to FIG. 20D, at procedure 2060 of flow diagram 2000, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2010-2030 may furthercomprise, during traversal of a landing zone portion (e.g., portion 1851in FIG. 18C) of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot 100acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capture ameasurement of a temperature of the landing zone portion of piled grain(i.e., a temperature of the grain landing in the landing zone). Forexample, in some embodiments, temperature sensor 233, infrared sensor236, or infrared camera 108 of robot 100 is used to capture atemperature measurement of a grain of piled grain during the traversalof the landing zone portion of the pile of grain. In some embodiments,the captured temperature measurement is paired with a location of robot100 at the time of capture of the temperature measurement. Such paireddata can be used to create a heat map of the piled grain which istraversed by robot 100. Additionally, temperature data can provide anoperator of the bulk store information about the conditions of storage,quality of grain, and/or identify areas for additional traversal toprevent crust formation, disrupt a hotspot, and/or ensure aircirculation.

With reference to FIG. 20E, at procedure 2070 of flow diagram 2000, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2010-2030 may furthercomprise a probe delivery payload 344 delivering a probe 1110 onto asurface of the piled grain in the landing zone portion (e.g., 1851 ofFIG. 18C) or elsewhere on surface 1811A during load-in. For example,probe delivery payload 344 may take action under instruction/directionof host processor 102 to deliver one or more probes 1110. As describedherein, the probe may have a sensor which measures and reports theconditions of the grain. The probe may be delivered during load-in ofgrain, and thus become buried in grain. This may facilitate, over time,positioning of probes which provide measurements at different levelswithin a column of piled grain. Such delivery of probes may be based onpreprogrammed positions in a pattern, coordinate locations, humandirection, or automated response of robot 100B upon detecting aparticular characteristic (e.g., grain temperature above a presetthreshold).

With reference to FIG. 20F, at procedure 2080 of flow diagram 2000, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2010-2030 may furthercomprise, during traversal of a sloped portion, outside of the landingzone, of the pile of grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot 100acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capture ameasurement of a characteristic of the sloped portion of the pile ofgrain. Some example characteristics include, but are not limited to,capturing a measurement of: temperature, humidity, moisture, gascomposition, electrostatic nature, and/or electrochemical nature. Ameasured characteristic may also comprise an optical and/or infraredimage. The captured measurement of a characteristic can be stored withinmemory 103 or transmitted from robot 100. In some embodiments, thecaptured measurement of a characteristic is paired with a location ofrobot 100 at the time of capture of the measurement. Such paired datacan be used to create a characteristic map of the piled grain which istraversed by robot 100.

FIGS. 21A-21I illustrate a flow diagram 2100 of an example method ofgrain bin management during grain storage, in accordance with variousembodiments. Procedures of the methods illustrated by flow diagram 2100of FIGS. 21A-21I will be described with reference to elements and/orcomponents of one or more of FIGS. 1-20F. It is appreciated that in someembodiments, the procedures may be performed in a different order thandescribed in a flow diagram, that some of the described procedures maynot be performed, and/or that one or more additional procedures to thosedescribed may be performed. Flow diagram 2100 includes some proceduresthat, in various embodiments, are carried out by one or more processors(e.g., host processor 102 or any processor of device 100 or a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled) under thecontrol of computer-readable and computer-executable instructions thatare stored on non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., hostmemory 103, other internal memory of device 100, or memory of a computeror system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled). It is furtherappreciated that one or more procedures described in flow diagram 2100may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware withfirmware and/or software.

For purposes of example only, the devices 100 and 100B (genericallyreferred to as “device 100” and/or “device 100”) is a robotic devicewhich utilizes augers (403) to move and maneuver with respect to piledgranular material, such as, but not limited to piled grain. The augers403 also agitate and disperse the piled grain as a by-product oftraversing the piled grain. Robot 100 will be described as operating onor in relation to piled grain in a bulk store, such as, but not limitedto grain in a grain bin. In some embodiments, robot 100 is free ofmechanical coupling with a structure (e.g., the bulk store) in which thepiled grain is contained.

With reference to FIG. 21A, at procedure 2110 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments, a robot 100 which includes a processor 102, amemory 103, and an auger-based drive system (which includes, forexample, drive motors 106 and augers 403) receives, instructions totraverse a surface of piled grain in a bulk store. In some embodiments,the instructions are for robot 100 to follow a pattern of movement totraverse the surface of the piled grain. The pattern may be a gridpattern, a spiral pattern, a crossing pattern, or any of the patternsdescribed herein, among others. The pattern may be predetermined, insome embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the instructions maybe preprogrammed into robot 100 (e.g., stored in memory 103). In someembodiments, the instructions may be remote control instructions. Forexample, remote control instructions may be received wirelessly from aremotely located computer system (506, 605, 604, etc.) or wirelesslyfrom a remote controller 501 operated by a human (i.e., a human maydrive the robot 100 remotely). In some embodiments, the pattern isdetermined ad hoc by robot 100 in an autonomous or semi-autonomousfashion as has been described herein.

With continued reference to FIG. 21A, at procedure 2120 of flow diagram2100, in various embodiments, a processor (e.g., processor 102) of robot100 controls movement of robot 100 according to the instructions. Viacommands to motor controllers 105 and/or drive motors 106 of theauger-based drive system of robot 100, robot 100 is controlled relativeto the grain in the flat storage bulk store, such as to traverse asurface of piled grain.

With continued reference to FIG. 21A, at procedure 2130 of flow diagram2100, the processor directs a maintenance traversal, by the robot 100,of a surface of the pile of the grain during storage period of the grainto disperse a layer of the grain on and near the surface and thusprevent crust formation on the surface during the storage period. Inresponse to the direction, the robot performs the traversal of thesurface of the pile of grain. The dispersal is effected or carried outby rotation of augers of the auger-based drive system, which churnthrough roughly the upper one two six inches of the surface of the pileof grain. For example, with reference to FIG. 18H, consider an examplewhere load 1810C is the last load to be placed into bin 1800 before astorage period which is several days, several months, or even longerthan a year. In such an example, robot 100 may traverse surface 1811C′in a maintenance pattern to prevent a crust from forming, hinder/deter acrust from forming, and/or counteract any crust that does form bybreaking it up. The maintenance traversal may be according to a pattern,which may be predetermined and stored within a memory (e.g., memory 103)of robot 100. It is appreciated that robot 100 may be operated atdifferent speeds of movement to vary the depth of penetration of theaugers 403 into the surface (e.g., surface 1811C′) of the pile of grain.Typically, a crust may be several inches to a foot thick, but forms fromthe top downward, thus by performing repeated maintenance patters atintervals a crust can be prevented from forming or disrupted anddispersed before it extends to a depth greater than may be reached bythe augers 403 of robot 100. By virtue of preventing crust formationand/or disrupting it, airflow through the pile of grain is also wellregulated by as there are no crusted sections to block airflow.

With reference to FIG. 21B, at procedure 2140 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise, the processor (e.g., processor 102) directing direct one ormore additional maintenance traversals intermittently during the storageperiod. Such additional maintenance patterns may be performed in thesame fashion as discussed in procedure 2130. Under direction by theprocessor, the robot performs this/these additional maintenancetraversal(s). Intermittent maintenance traversal(s) may occur atintervals which may be regular, irregular, or ad hoc. For example, amaintenance traversal may be directed and performed twice a day (e.g.,morning and evening); on set intervals (e.g., 2-hour intervals, 6-hourintervals, 12-hour intervals, 24-hour intervals, or some otherintervals). Ad hoc direction and performance of a maintenance traversalmay be based on one or more measurements of environmental conditions(such as temperature, humidity, or moisture) or other factors. In someembodiments, a maintenance traversal may be directed by external orremote instruction from a computer system or a human operated remotecontroller.

With reference to FIG. 21C, at procedure 2145 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise, during a maintenance traversal of a surface (e.g., portion1811C′ in FIG. 18H) of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot100 acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capturea measurement of a characteristic of the surface of piled grain duringthe maintenance traversal. Some example characteristics include, but arenot limited to, capturing a measurement of: temperature, humidity,moisture, gas composition, electrostatic nature, and/or electrochemicalnature. A measured characteristic may also comprise an optical and/orinfrared image. The captured measurement of a characteristic can bestored within memory 103 or transmitted from robot 100. In someembodiments, the captured measurement of a characteristic is paired witha location of robot 100 at the time of capture of the measurement. Suchpaired data can be used to create a characteristic map of the piledgrain which is traversed by robot 100. In a like fashion, the recordedpositions of a robot 100 during one or more maintenance traversals maybe utilized to create a three-dimensional map of the surface (e.g.,surface 1811C′) in the manner described herein. This surface mapping maybe referred to as a contour map and may include elevations of thecontours.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a base station (506, 605) that is/arecommunicatively coupled with robot 100. The base station (506, 605) islocated remotely from the robot and may be configured to communicatewith robot 100 over the Internet, via a wide-area network, via apeer-to-peer communication, or by other means. Via such communications,the base station (506, 605) may receive data collected by robot 100(including motion sensor data) collected by the robot during thetraversal of the portion of piled grain. Additionally, or alternatively,via such communications, the base station (506, 605) may relayinstructions to robot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a cloud-based 602 storage 603 and/or processing604 which is/are communicatively coupled with robot 100. The cloud-basedinfrastructure 602 may be utilized to process data, store data, makedata available to other devices (e.g., computer 605), and/or relayinformation or instructions from other devices (e.g., computer 605) torobot 100.

With reference to FIG. 21D, at procedure 2150 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise, during a maintenance traversal of a surface (e.g., surface1811C′ in FIG. 18H) of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot100 acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capturea measurement of a temperature of a portion of the surface of piledgrain. For example, in some embodiments, temperature sensor 233,infrared sensor 236, or infrared camera 108 of robot 100 is used tocapture a temperature measurement of the piled grain during themaintenance traversal. In some embodiments, the captured temperaturemeasurement is paired with a location of robot 100 at the time ofcapture of the temperature measurement. Such paired data can be used tocreate a heat map of the piled grain which is traversed by robot 100.Additionally, temperature data can provide an operator of the bulk storeinformation about the conditions of storage, quality of grain, and/oridentify areas for additional traversal to prevent crust formation,disrupt a hot spot, and/or ensure air circulation.

For example, with reference to procedure 2151 in FIG. 21D, in someembodiments, in response to the captured temperature measurementexceeding a threshold (e.g., being above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or someother predetermined temperature value) on the portion of the surface,the processor directs robot 100, to repeatedly traverse the portion tofurther disperse the portion until measured temperature in the portionis decreased to a value below the threshold. The repeated traversal maybe in a pattern, such as a spiral pattern, and may go on for a specifiedperiod (such as 3 minutes) or until the temperature is remeasured at theportion and found to be below the threshold. For example, by traversingthe robot 100 in a tight spiral pattern it can create a small crater(e.g., 3 to 6 feet across) with a depth of 1 to 2 feet. In someembodiments, this may disperse grain that exceeded the temperaturethreshold and mix it with adjacent cooler grain to lower the temperatureto an acceptable value. The robot may then leave the crater open or fillit with adjacent grain. It is appreciated that other actions can betaken such as directing the robot employ sprayer 347 to spray a coolanton/around the hot spot which exceeds the temperature threshold. In someembodiments, the robot may send an external report of the temperaturemeasurement which exceeded the threshold.

With reference to FIG. 21E, at procedure 2155 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise, during a maintenance traversal of a surface (e.g., surface1811C′ in FIG. 18H) of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot100 acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capturea measurement of an air flow measurement of a portion of the surface ofpiled grain. For example, in some embodiments, air flow sensor 240 ofrobot 100 is used to capture an airflow measurement of the piled grainduring the maintenance traversal. In some embodiments, the capturedairflow measurement is paired with a location of robot 100 at the timeof capture of the airflow measurement. Such paired data can be used tocreate an airflow map of the piled grain which is traversed by robot100. Additionally, airflow data can provide an operator of the bulkstore information about the conditions of storage, quality of grain,and/or identify areas for additional traversal to prevent crustformation and/or ensure air circulation.

For example, with reference to procedure 2156 in FIG. 21E, in someembodiments, in response to the captured airflow measurement below athreshold (e.g., below 0.5 meters/second or some other predeterminedvalue while a fan (e.g., fan 1803) is blowing air into the bin 1800) onthe portion of the surface, the processor directs robot 100 torepeatedly traverse the portion to further disperse the portion untilmeasured airflow in the portion is increased to a value above thethreshold. The repeated traversal may be in a pattern, such as a spiralpattern, and may go on for a specified period (such as 3 minutes) oruntil the airflow is remeasured at the portion of the surface and foundto exceed the threshold. For example, by traversing the robot 100 in atight spiral pattern it can create a small crater (e.g., 3 to 6 feetacross) with a depth of 1 to 2 feet. In some embodiments, creation ofsuch a crater may remove a blockage of the airflow. The robot may thenleave the crater open or fill it with adjacent grain. It is appreciatedthat other actions can be taken such as directing the robot to deploy aripper 349 to break up the portion. In some embodiments, the robot maysend an external report of the airflow measurement which was below thethreshold.

With reference to FIG. 21F, at procedure 2160 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise a sprayer payload 347 spraying a substance onto the surface ofthe piled grain during performance of a maintenance pattern. The spraymay be a coolant, a flame retardant, an insecticide, a fungicide, orother liquid, gas, or powder. For example, the spray may be a coolantfor a sprayed on a hotspot where a temperature has been measured above athreshold. In other embodiments, the spray may be a fungicide to preventthe growth of mold or to stop the growth of mold detected in an imagecaptured during a maintenance traversal.

With reference to FIG. 21G, at procedure 2165 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise a probe delivery payload 344 delivering a probe 1110 onto asurface of the piled grain during performance of a maintenance pattern.For example, probe delivery payload 344 may take action underinstruction/direction of host processor 102 to deliver one or moreprobes 1110. As described herein, the probe may have a sensor whichmeasures and reports the conditions of the grain. Such delivery ofprobes may be based on preprogrammed positions in a pattern, coordinatelocations, human direction, or automated response of robot 100B upondetecting a particular characteristic (e.g., grain temperature above apreset threshold).

With reference to FIG. 21H, at procedure 2170 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise, during a maintenance traversal of a pile of grain by robot100, and under direction of host processor 102, mapping the surface ofthe pile of grain to create a three-dimensional surface contour map ofthe surface which may include surface elevations. This mapping may beconducted in the fashion described previously in conjunction with FIGS.9A-9C. The surface contour map may be produced by robot 100 or by anexternal computer from measurements provided from robot 100.

At procedure 2171 of flow diagram 2100, in some embodiments, the surfacecontour map is utilized to measure a volume of the pile of grain in thegrain bin. For example, the surface contour map can be combined withinformation regarding test weights (i.e., moisture levels) of piledgrain and the location of the floor of the bulk store to estimate anamount of granular material (e.g., grain) stored in the bulk store(i.e., a number of bushels or other weight or volume). For example, andwith respect to a circular bin, an overall volume of grain can beestimated by finding the volume of a cylinder with a radius of half thediameter of the bin and a height equivalent to the lowest elevation inthe surface contour may minus the known elevation of the bottom internalsurface of the bin and then adding on the volume estimate of the grainbetween the top of the cylinder and the three-dimensional shape of thesurface contour map. In some embodiments, the volume of thisthree-dimensional shape may be approximated. This measured estimate ofthe volume of grain may be useful to the operator of the bin, to agovernment agency, to a commodities trader, to a bank or other financerof a farming operation related to the grain stored in the grain bin,etc. This volume measurement may be produced by robot 100 or by anexternal computer from measurements provided from robot 100.

With reference to FIG. 21I, at procedure 2175 of flow diagram 2100, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2110-2130 may furthercomprise, during a maintenance traversal of a surface (e.g., surface1811C′ in FIG. 18H) of piled grain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot100 acting under instruction/direction of host processor 102 to capturea measurement of a moisture of a portion of the surface of piled grain.For example, in some embodiments, moisture sensor 234 or another sensoror sensors of robot 100 is used to capture a moisture measurement of thepiled grain during the maintenance traversal. In some embodiments, thecaptured moisture measurement is paired with a location of robot 100 atthe time of capture of the moisture measurement. Such paired data can beused to create a moisture map of the piled grain which is traversed byrobot 100. Additionally, moisture data can provide an operator of thebulk store information about the conditions of storage, quality ofgrain, and/or identify areas for additional traversal to prevent crustformation or mix the grain to even out and a higher than desired are ofmoisture.

For example, with reference to procedure 2176 in FIG. 21I, in someembodiments, in response to the captured moisture measurement exceedinga threshold (e.g., being above 20% moisture or some other predeterminedvalue) on the portion of the surface, the processor directs robot 100 torepeatedly traverse the portion to further disperse the portion untilmeasured moisture in the portion is decreased to a value below thethreshold. The moisture threshold may be exceeded due to grain not beingdried to a desired moisture content or possibly due to moistureincursion (e.g., a leaky roof during a rainstorm). The repeatedtraversal may be in a pattern, such as a spiral pattern, and may go onfor a specified period (such as 3 minutes) or until the moisture isremeasured at the portion and found to be below the threshold. Forexample, by traversing robot 100 in a tight spiral pattern it can createa small crater (e.g., 3 to 6 feet across) with a depth of 1 to 2 feet.In some embodiments, this disperses the overly moist grain and mixes itwith nearby drier grain, thus bringing the average moisture down to adesired/acceptable value. The robot may then leave the crater open orfill it with adjacent grain. It is appreciated that other actions can betaken such as directing the robot employ sprayer 347 to spray a powderedabsorbent on/around the portion which exceeds the moisture threshold. Insome embodiments, the robot may send an external report of the moisturemeasurement which exceeded the threshold.

FIGS. 22A-2D illustrate a flow diagram 2200 of an example method ofgrain bin management during grain storage, in accordance with variousembodiments. Procedures of the methods illustrated by flow diagram 2200of FIGS. 22A-22D will be described with reference to elements and/orcomponents of one or more of FIGS. 1-201 . It is appreciated that insome embodiments, the procedures may be performed in a different orderthan described in a flow diagram, that some of the described proceduresmay not be performed, and/or that one or more additional procedures tothose described may be performed. Flow diagram 2200 includes someprocedures that, in various embodiments, are carried out by one or moreprocessors (e.g., host processor 102 or any processor of device 100 or acomputer or system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled) underthe control of computer-readable and computer-executable instructionsthat are stored on non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g.,host memory 103, other internal memory of device 100, or memory of acomputer or system to which device 100 is communicatively coupled). Itis further appreciated that one or more procedures described in flowdiagram 2200 may be implemented in hardware, or a combination ofhardware with firmware and/or software.

For purposes of example only, the devices 100 and 100B (genericallyreferred to as “device 100” and/or “device 100”) is a robotic devicewhich utilizes augers (403) to move and maneuver with respect to piledgranular material, such as, but not limited to piled grain. The augers403 also agitate and disperse the piled grain as a by-product oftraversing the piled grain. Robot 100 will be described as operating onor in relation to piled grain in a bulk store, such as, but not limitedto grain in a grain bin. In some embodiments, robot 100 is free ofmechanical coupling with a structure (e.g., the bulk store) in which thepiled grain is contained.

With reference to FIG. 22A, at procedure 2210 of flow diagram 2200, invarious embodiments, a robot 100 which includes a processor 102, amemory 103, and an auger-based drive system (which includes, forexample, drive motors 106 and augers 403) receives, instructions totraverse a surface of piled grain in a flat storage bulk store. In someembodiments, the instructions are for robot 100 to follow a pattern ofmovement to traverse the surface of the piled grain. The pattern may bea grid pattern, a spiral pattern, a crossing pattern, or any of thepatterns described herein, among others. The pattern may bepredetermined, in some embodiments. For example, in some embodiments,the instructions may be preprogrammed into robot 100 (e.g., stored inmemory 103). In some embodiments, the instructions may be remote controlinstructions. For example, remote control instructions may be receivedwirelessly from a remotely located computer system (506, 605, 604, etc.)or wirelessly from a remote controller 501 operated by a human (i.e., ahuman may drive the robot 100 remotely). In some embodiments, thepattern is determined ad hoc by robot 100 in an autonomous orsemi-autonomous fashion as has been described herein.

With continued reference to FIG. 22A, at procedure 2220 of flow diagram2200, in various embodiments, a processor (e.g., processor 102) of robot100 controls movement of robot 100 according to the instructions. Viacommands to motor controllers 105 and/or drive motors 106 of theauger-based drive system of robot 100, robot 100 is controlled relativeto the grain in the flat storage bulk store, such as to traverse asurface of piled grain.

With continued reference to FIG. 22A, at procedure 2230 of flow diagram2200, the processor directs traversal, by the robot 100, of a portion ofa pile of the grain in the flat storage bulk store to incite sedimentgravity flow in the portion of pile of grain to walk-down the grain inthe portion. The walk down is a robotic walk down which moves grain fromhigher elevations to lower elevations within the flat storage. It shouldbe appreciated that this robotic walking down of grain is one of manyfacets of managing stored grain and managing a bulk store where thegrain is stored. The sediment gravity flow is incited by disruption ofviscosity of the portion of the pile of grain through agitation of theportion of the pile of grain by auger rotation of the auger-based drivesystem. Incitement of sediment gravity flow for various purposes hasbeen previously described herein (see e.g., FIGS. 7A-7L and theirdescription; FIGS. 8A-8E and their description; and FIGS. 19A-19D andtheir description). The traversal may be remotely controlled ordirected, in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the traversal maybe carried out by robot 100 in an automated, semi-automated, or ad hocmanner. For example, robot 100 may measure characteristics of the grain,such as slope or height of a portion which triggers it to begin thetraversal.

In some embodiments, the portion being traversed is a portion which ispiled in an asymmetric fashion against a wall of the flat storage. Thatis, the traversed portion is grain which is piled in a fashion that isgenerating an asymmetric load against a wall of the flat storage bulkstore, and the traversal walks down the grain in the portion to lower anangle of a slope of the portion to below a predetermined angle to reducethe asymmetric load against the wall.

In some embodiments, the portion being traversed is adjacent or in to anunderfilled corner region or side region of the flat storage. That is, acorner region of the flat storage bulk store may be traversed towalk-down the grain into the corner region until an elevation of thegrain in the corner region reaches a predetermined higher elevation thanits starting elevation.

In some embodiments, the portion being traversed is adjacent a locationof manual extraction within the flat storage (e.g., near where humansare shoveling, near where a portable auger is deployed, where the nozzleof a vacuum hose can easily access grain, and/or near where a skid steeror front-end loader is gathering buckets of grain).

The traversal of procedure 2230 may be performed in response to receiptby robot 100 of an instruction from an external source. For example,instructions may be received wirelessly from a remotely located computersystem (506, 605, 604, etc.) or wirelessly from a remote controller 501operated by a human (i.e., a human may drive the robot 100 remotely forsome or all of the traversal, in some embodiments). In some embodiments,the traversal may be performed according to a predetermined pattern thatmay be stored in memory 103 of robot 100.

With reference to FIG. 22B, at procedure 2240 of flow diagram 2200, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2210-2230 may furthercomprise, the processor (e.g., processor 102) directing one or moresensors of robot 100 to obtain a first measurement of an angle of slopeof the portion of piled granular material in a bulk store. Withreference to FIGS. 19D and 19E, this can comprise a measure of the angleof slope of the surface 1912 (Figure D) or the surface 1913 (FIG. 19E)of the grain 1910 which is piled in flat storage 1900. The angle can bemeasured and obtained autonomously by robot 100 or can be measured by adevice external to robot 100 and then obtained by being communicated toor accessed by robot 100. In an embodiment, where the angle of slope ofsurface 1912 or surface 1913 is measured by robot 100, motion sensor(s)220 may be used to measure the angle of robot 100 on a slope toapproximate the angle of the slope (e.g., within a tolerance such as,for example, +/−1 degree). In some embodiment, procedure 2240 may beskipped and an operator may simply direct robot 100 to begin traversalof a portion of piled grain at an operator designated location.

With continued reference to FIG. 22B, at procedure 2241 of flow diagram2200, in various embodiments the method as described in 2210-2240 mayfurther comprise, robot 100 performing the traversal in response to thefirst measurement satisfying a first condition. The first condition maybe that the first measure of slope is beyond an acceptable thresholdangle (e.g., beyond 10 degrees of slope). One or more patterns oftraversal or even random traversal may be conducted on the surface inresponse to meeting the condition.

With reference to FIG. 22C at procedure 2250 of flow diagram 2200, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2210-2230 may furthercomprise, robot 100 obtaining a second measurement of the angle of slopeof the portion. The second measure may take place during the traversaland may be acquired in the same fashion as the first measurement of theangle of slope (e.g., motion sensor(s) 220 may be used to measure theangle of robot 100 on a slope to approximate the angle of the slope(e.g., within a tolerance such as, for example, +/−1 degree).

With continued reference to FIG. 22C, at procedure 2251 of flow diagram2200, in various embodiments the method as described in 2250 may furthercomprise, responsive to the second measurement satisfying a secondcondition, robot 100 ceases the traversal of the portion. In someembodiments, the first condition is related to a first angle and thesecond condition is related to a second angle. In some embodiments,where the first angle is the same as the second angle, the firstcondition may be met when the first measurement exceeds the angle, andthe second measurement may be met when the second measurement fallsbelow the angle. For example, the angle may be 10 degrees, and when thefirst measurement is 20 degrees, traversal will continue until the angleis adjusted to below 10 degrees. In some embodiments, where the firstangle and the second angle are different, the first angle is larger thanthe second angle. For example, the first angle may be 10 degrees whilethe second angle is 5 degrees. In such an embodiment, when the firstmeasurement is 20 degrees, traversal will continue until the angle meetsthe second condition (e.g., drops below 5 degrees). Put differently, thetraversal may continue until a specified time has passed and/or until afollow-on measurement of the angle of slope of the surface in theportion meets a second condition (e.g., falls below the threshold angleor falls below some other designated angle). Alternatively, a user mayintervene to stop the traversal. In this manner a portion may be walkeddown into a corner, walked down to a lower height leaning asymmetricallyagainst a wall, walked down to an extraction point, or just generallyhave its surface slope adjusted downward to closer to level.

With reference to FIG. 22D, at procedure 2260 of flow diagram 2200, invarious embodiments the method as described in 2210-2230 may furthercomprise, during a traversal of a portion (e.g., a portion of surface1912 in FIG. 19D, or a portion of surface 1913 in FIG. 19E) of piledgrain by robot 100, a sensor 120 of robot 100 acting underinstruction/direction of host processor 102 to capture a measurement ofa characteristic of the surface of piled grain during the traversal.Some example characteristics include, but are not limited to, capturinga measurement of: temperature, humidity, moisture, gas composition,electrostatic nature, and/or electrochemical nature. A measuredcharacteristic may also comprise an optical and/or infrared image. Thecaptured measurement of a characteristic can be stored within memory 103or transmitted from robot 100. In some embodiments, the capturedmeasurement of a characteristic is paired with a location of robot 100at the time of capture of the measurement. Such paired data can be usedto create a characteristic map of the piled grain which is traversed byrobot 100. In a like fashion, the recorded positions of a robot 100during one or more maintenance traversals may be utilized to create athree-dimensional map of the surface in the manner previously describedherein. This surface mapping may be referred to as a contour map and mayinclude elevations of the contours.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a base station (506, 605) that is/arecommunicatively coupled with robot 100. The base station (506, 605) islocated remotely from the robot and may be configured to communicatewith robot 100 over the Internet, via a wide-area network, via apeer-to-peer communication, or by other means. Via such communications,the base station (506, 605) may receive data collected by robot 100(including motion sensor data) collected by the robot during thetraversal of the portion of piled grain. Additionally, or alternatively,via such communications, the base station (506, 605) may relayinstructions to robot 100.

In some embodiments, the captured measurement(s) of characteristic(s)may be transmitted to a cloud-based 602 storage 603 and/or processing604 which is/are communicatively coupled with robot 100. The cloud-basedinfrastructure 602 may be utilized to process data, store data, makedata available to other devices (e.g., computer 605), and/or relayinformation or instructions from other devices (e.g., computer 605) torobot 100.

CONCLUSION

The examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain,to describe particular applications, and to thereby enable those skilledin the art to make and use embodiments of the described examples.However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the foregoingdescription and examples have been presented for the purposes ofillustration and example only. The description as set forth is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the preciseform disclosed. Rather, the specific features and acts described aboveare disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment,” “certainembodiments,” “an embodiment,” “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” or similar term means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of suchphrases in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics of any embodimentmay be combined in any suitable manner with one or more other features,structures, or characteristics of one or more other embodiments withoutlimitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A robot comprising: an auger-based drive system;a memory; and a processor coupled with the memory and configured to:control movement of the robot, via the auger-based drive system,relative to grain in a grain bin; and direct traversal, by the robot, ofa landing zone portion of a surface of a pile of the grain duringload-in of the grain to disperse broken grain and foreign material awayfrom the landing zone portion, wherein the landing zone portion islocated in a center of the grain bin where the grain lands as it isaugured into the grain bin during load-in, and wherein the dispersal iseffected in part by rotation of augers of the auger-based drive system.2. The robot of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:direct additional traversal, by the robot, of a sloped portion of thepile of grain to incite sediment gravity flow in the sloped portion ofthe pile of grain by disruption of viscosity of the sloped portion ofthe pile of grain through agitation of the sloped portion of the pile ofgrain by the auger rotation of the auger-based drive system, wherein thesloped portion is outside of the landing zone portion, and wherein thesediment gravity flow reduces a slope of the sloped portion and furtherdisperses the broken grain and foreign material away from the landingzone portion.
 3. The robot of claim 2, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: direct capture, by a sensor of the robot, a measurementof a characteristic of the sloped portion of the pile of grain duringthe traversal of the sloped portion of the pile of grain.
 4. The robotof claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: directcapture, by a sensor of the robot, a measurement of a characteristic ofthe landing zone portion of the pile of grain during the traversal ofthe landing zone portion of the pile of grain.
 5. The robot of claim 1,wherein the processor is further configured to: direct capture, by asensor of the robot, a temperature measurement of the landing zoneportion of the pile of grain during the traversal of the landing zoneportion of the pile of grain.
 6. The robot of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: direct delivery, by the robot, of aprobe onto the surface of the pile of grain during the traversal of thelanding zone portion of the pile of grain.
 7. The robot of claim 1,wherein the processor being configured to direct traversal, by therobot, of a landing zone portion of a surface of a pile of the grainduring load-in of the grain to disperse broken grain and foreignmaterial away from the landing zone portion comprises the processorbeing configured to: direct the traversal of the landing zone portion ofthe pile of grain according to a predetermined pattern of movementstored in the memory.
 8. The robot of claim 1, wherein the processorbeing configured to direct traversal, by the robot, of a landing zoneportion of a surface of a pile of the grain during load-in of the grainto disperse broken grain and foreign material away from the landing zoneportion comprises the processor being configured to: direct thetraversal of the landing zone portion of the pile of grain according toremote control instructions received by the robot.
 9. A method of grainbin management during load-in, the method comprising: receiving, at arobot, instructions to traverse a surface of pile of grain in a grainbin; controlling, by a processor of the robot according to theinstructions, movement of the robot relative to the grain in the grainbin via an auger-based drive system; and traversing, by the robot underdirection by the processor, a landing zone portion of a surface of apile of the grain during load-in of the grain to disperse broken grainand foreign material away from the landing zone portion, wherein thelanding zone portion is located in a center of the grain bin where thegrain lands as it is augured into the grain bin during load-in, andwherein the dispersal is effected in part by rotation of augers of theauger-based drive system.
 10. The method as recited in claim 9, furthercomprising performing, by the robot under direction by the processor,additional traversal by the robot of a sloped portion of the pile ofgrain to incite sediment gravity flow in the sloped portion of the pileof grain by disruption of viscosity of the sloped portion of the pile ofgrain through agitation of the sloped portion of the pile of grain bythe auger rotation of the auger-based drive system, wherein the slopedportion is outside of the landing zone portion, and wherein the sedimentgravity flow reduces a slope of the sloped portion and further dispersesthe broken grain and foreign material away from the landing zoneportion.
 11. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising:capturing, by a sensor of the robot, a measurement of a characteristicof the landing zone portion of the pile of grain during the traversal ofthe landing zone portion of the pile of grain.
 12. The method as recitedin claim 9, further comprising: capturing, by a sensor of the robot, atemperature measurement of the landing zone portion of the pile of grainduring the traversal of the landing zone portion of the pile of grain.13. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising: delivering aprobe onto the surface of the pile of grain during the traversal of thelanding zone portion of the pile of grain.
 14. The method as recited inclaim 9, wherein the directing traversal, by the robot, of a landingzone portion of a surface of a pile of the grain during load-in of thegrain to disperse broken grain and foreign material away from thelanding zone portion comprises: directing the traversal of the landingzone portion of the pile of grain according to a predetermined patternof movement stored in a memory of the robot.
 15. The robot of claim 1,wherein the directing traversal, by the robot, of a landing zone portionof a surface of a pile of the grain during load-in of the grain todisperse broken grain and foreign material away from the landing zoneportion comprises: directing the traversal of the landing zone portionof the pile of grain according to remote-control.
 16. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium comprising instructions embodiedthereon which, when executed, cause a processor to perform a method ofgrain bin management during load-in, the method comprising: controllingmovement of a robot, via an auger-based drive system of the robot,relative to grain in a grain bin; and directing traversal, by the robot,of a landing zone portion of a surface of a pile of the grain duringload-in of the grain to the grain bin to disperse broken grain andforeign material away from the landing zone portion, wherein the landingzone portion is located in a center of the grain bin where the grainlands as it is augured into the grain bin during load-in, and whereinthe dispersal is effected in part by rotation of augers of theauger-based drive system.
 17. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the method further comprisesinstructions for: directing additional traversal by the robot of asloped portion of the pile of grain to incite sediment gravity flow inthe sloped portion of the pile of grain by disruption of viscosity ofthe sloped portion of the pile of grain through agitation of the slopedportion of the pile of grain by the auger rotation of the auger-baseddrive system, wherein the sloped portion is outside of the landing zoneportion, and wherein the sediment gravity flow reduces a slope of thesloped portion and further disperses the broken grain and foreignmaterial away from the landing zone portion.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the method furthercomprises: capturing, by a sensor of the robot, a measurement of acharacteristic of the landing zone portion of the pile of grain duringthe traversal of the landing zone portion of the pile of grain.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein themethod further comprises: capturing, by a sensor of the robot, atemperature measurement of the landing zone portion of the pile of grainduring the traversal of the landing zone portion of the pile of grain.20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16,wherein the method further comprises: delivering a probe onto thesurface of the pile of grain during the traversal of the landing zoneportion of the pile of grain.